


The Art of the Possible

by LifeOnTheMoon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-26 18:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20746427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeOnTheMoon/pseuds/LifeOnTheMoon
Summary: After being left at the altar three months previously Rose Weasley has found herself in a rapid downward spiral. Scorpius Malfoy has made a moral decision for the first time in his life and is being punished accordingly. Will these two broken people help each other from falling off a cliff, or will they simply jump off together?





	1. Old Beginnings

‘Stop looking so awkward,’ Lily hissed in Rose’s ear. She received a rather fierce glare but continued looking at her cousin with resolute sternness. 

‘I am not awkward,’ Rose whispered back. ‘I just really do not want to be here now Lily.’

‘Tough,’ Lily said, sounding entirely unrepentant. ‘You can’t hide forever Rosie. It’s a party. You have to lighten up a little.’ 

Rose scowled. It wasn’t her fault that the last time she had been the same room with all these people she had experienced shame and humiliation on a scale that had been entirely unprecedented. 

‘If I have to stay here you can at least get me another glass of wine,’ Rose said sullenly. 

Lily sighed but complied. ‘This is your last one,’ she said warningly. ‘I’m cutting you off.’ 

Rose just snorted. ‘I know exactly where James and Al hide their liquor. Good luck with that.’ 

‘James and Al haven’t lived here in ten years,’ Lily said, her tone mild. ‘Trust me I cleared out all the liquor they were hiding at least four years ago.’ 

‘Lily,’ Rose whined. ‘You can’t make me talk to people unless I have at least another three glasses in me.’ 

‘You’ve had at least a bottle,’ Lily said firmly. ‘That’s probably enough.’ 

Rose scrunched her nose up in annoyance. ‘I can’t remember exactly when you turned into my mother but I’ll have you know it’s extremely annoying.’ 

Lily stifled another sigh. It was annoying. Mostly because all Lily really wanted to do was relax and just enjoy some drunken shenanigans with her favourite cousin. But for the last three months she had mostly been on Rose watch, trying to keep her from bottoming out while being careful not to entirely alienate her with her hovering. It was a difficult tightrope to walk. 

‘Well since Aunt Hermione said she couldn’t make it I suppose I have to step in for tonight at least,’ Lily said, keeping her tone light and jokey. 

She should’ve realised that it was a mistake to mention her mother around Rose because the expression that crossed her cousin’s face was an unmistakable mixture of hurt and annoyance. 

‘Huh,’ Rose said, marshalling her features into as neutral an expression as possible. ‘Couldn’t even manage Nan’s birthday could she?’ 

‘Rose,’ Lily said, her tone sympathetic. ‘You know she’s busy. And she’ll be there for Nan’s actual birthday. This is just the party.’ 

‘Right,’ Rose muttered. Of course her mother wouldn’t be there. She wasn’t even entirely certain why she wanted her mother there. She had been studiously ignoring all her phone calls, texts and emails for the last three months. But for some reason she had been looking forward to seeing her. There was something about her mother’s presence that immediately made the horrifying dark thoughts in her head abate a little. Rose tossed back the glass of wine in one gulp, willing the alcohol to take away everything she was feeling. 

‘She’ll be here tomorrow,’ Lily said comfortingly. ‘We’re all heading to Burrow aren’t we? Aunt Hermione would never miss Nan’s birthday.’ 

‘I don’t care,’ Rose said, her tone flat. ‘It’s not like I’ve seen Mum in ages.’ 

Lily, who had been a front seat witness to the incredibly fucked up relationship between her cousin and her aunt prudently held her tongue. While she, and the rest of the family, knew that Rose and Aunt Hermione loved each other very much, the fact that neither of them knew how to express this was frustrating to say the least. She thought that maybe after… But no. Rose isolated herself from the rest of the family with such expertise, Lily would be impressed, if she hadn’t been so worried. Well the rest of the family but not her. Lily wasn’t entirely certain why Rose had decided her baby cousin was the only person she would allow in her life but she had. Well Rose was always smart, she knew she could probably get away with rather lot without actually dying if Lily was there to chaperone. And of course, Lily thought, as usual she was absolutely and completely right. Hence the tightrope act that Lily had been putting on for the last three months. She had insisted that Rose come to the party to try and at least get her to talk to people who actually cared about her and not her vapid colleagues who thought that Brexit was a venereal disease. 

She laid a hand on Rose’s shoulder. ‘It’s fine,’ Rose said, shaking her hand off. ‘I’m just going to go to the loo.’ 

‘Rose,’ Lily called after her, but she had fled upstairs. 

Rose gripped the bannister tightly, beginning to feel the effects of the bottle of wine she had consumed. 

‘Rosie,’ she heard a pleasant voice exclaim. She winced and turned around. 

‘Hello Aunt Audrey,’ she said, forcing a smile onto her face. 

‘How had you been darling?’ The pity in her aunt’s voice felt like the last straw. 

‘Fine,’ she said. She was sure that the smile on her face was beginning to look more and more like a grimace and Rose was worried that her aunt could tell.

‘We haven’t seen you since…’ Aunt Audrey trailed away awkwardly and Rose felt sweat dripping down her back. 

‘I’m fine,’ Rose repeated. ‘How have you been? How’s Lucy?’ 

‘Oh she’s doing wonderfully.’ Her aunt’s face softened at the thought of her youngest daughter. 

The greatest mystery Rose had ever been brought face to face with was how two people like Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey had manage to produce a human being like Lucy. It was even more surprising that in their eyes she could do no wrong. Lucy had been ten when she set the her mother’s curtains on fire and fifteen when she had first been arrested for releasing animals from a makeup testing facility. Uncle Percy just paid her bail and didn’t even ground her. When Lucy, at the age of twenty, had told her parents she was dropping out of uni, moving to Australia and starting a cattle ranch they had been less upset about her choice of profession and more upset about the fact that they would never see her. Uncle Percy had even tried to convince her that sheep farming in Wales was about the same thing. But for some reason Lucy had been enamoured by the outback and had within a year set up a hugely profitable outfit. Uncle Percy had become positively insufferable then, always going on about how impressive it was for a twenty-one year old to do everything Lucy had done and how cows just always had an affinity for her. Then, four years later, Lucy had informed her parents that she would be marrying her favourite ranch hand, Amanda, and since they couldn’t do that in Australia they were thinking of moving back to Britain. Rose had expected them to be a little shocked by the homosexuality of it all, but they were just outright thrilled they were getting their favourite daughter back. Now Lucy was sheep farming, but in Leicester not Wales. She had a beautiful blonde Australian wife and a two year old girl who was adorable as she was naughty. The perfection of Lucy’s pastoral life threw the disaster that was Rose’s existence into sharp relief so she especially tried avoiding the Percy branch of the Weasleys. It just wasn’t fair she thought as she mumbled her way through an awkward conversation with her aunt. It just wasn’t fair. 

After disentangling herself from her aunt she darted into the loo. All that wine had actually made her want to wee quite badly. Then after taking far longer than she needed, she left the loo and began to make her way to the stairs. Just another hour or so, she thought to herself wearily. Though how she would survive it now that Lily had cut her off was beyond her. 

As she was wandering rather slowly towards the stairs she heard someone with an unmistakably French accent, coming up the stairs. 

‘And ze cake,’ her Aunt Fleur said loudly. ‘I do ‘ope it does not ‘ave nuts. Louis is allergic you know.’ 

She froze. While she though her Aunt Fleur was a delight the idea of being subjected to a long, detailed and most likely inappropriate list of what she should do to pull herself out of her downward spiral made her shudder. 

‘No,’ she muttered to herself. ‘I just can’t.’ She quickly turned around and slipped into Al’s room. At least she would be safe from Aunt Fleur’s horrendously explicit list of ways she could revenge herself on those who had wronged her. 

‘Hey,’ a voice came from behind her and Rose nearly had a heart attack. 

She spun around and in the darkness could make out the gleam of white blond hair. 

‘Fuck,’ she swore. ‘Scor you scared the shit out of me.’ 

‘Sorry,’ he said apologetically. 

‘Why are you sitting in the dark like a mediocre Bond villain?’ she asked curiously. 

‘Hiding,’ he said succinctly. 

‘Who are you hiding from Scor?’ she asked, a laugh unwillingly pulled from her. 

‘Freya,’ he said, sounding a little ashamed. 

Rose suppressed a laugh as she went to put on a light. She smiled, her first proper smile of the night as she looked down at a very sheepish Scorpius Malfoy, sitting on the edge of Albus’ bed, clutching a glass of whiskey. His normally well combed hair looked like a crows nest and his sinfully gorgeous silver-grey eyes were a little bloodshot. 

‘So I suppose that’s off again,’ she said. ‘God, what you and my cousin see in her I’ll never understand.’ 

‘You wouldn’t,’ Scorpius muttered. ‘You need to be a specific kind of masochist.’ 

‘Which you and James clearly are,’ Rose said, her tone verging on waspish. 

She knew Freya Thomas well enough having worked with her more than once and could objectively understand that the perfect proportions she possessed could lead to infatuation in the opposite sex. But Freya Thomas was also objectively the worst person Rose knew. She rarely came to shoots on time and once left Rose with half her arse hanging out over a cliff for hours because she was late. Then when she turned up, it was many more minutes before makeup could wipe away all the debauchery of the previous night from her face. God, if only she wasn’t so perfect looking then maybe men might be able to see that under all that smooth, blemish free brown skin, perfect hair with just the right amount of curl, and deep chocolate brown eyes, there was nothing except a desire to be as generally nasty as she possibly could. 

Scorpius shrugged at her and Rose once again (inside her head of course) bemoaned the fact that such a perfect specimen of a man was utterly in the thrall of a harpy. It would be one thing if all he had were his high cheekbones, slivery blonde hair and piercing grey eyes. But no he also had to be six feet tall and have a body that looked like Michelangelo had carved it out of marble. 

‘I can’t even remember how you met her,’ Rose said. ‘I wouldn’t’ve thought you and she ran in the same circles.’ 

‘What? MPs aren’t routinely introduced to incredibly attractive models?’ he teased. 

‘Well not really,’ Rose said, sitting down next to him. ‘I mean I would’ve thought if any model was going to hang out with Members of Parliament it would’ve been me.’ 

‘Didn’t have enough of that growing up then?’ he asked. ‘I wouldn’t though. We’ve just gotten worse I promise you.’ 

‘I watch BBC Parliament just like the rest of the country,’ she said. ‘Trust me I know.’ 

Scorpius let out a laugh that had a touch of bewilderment. ‘The country watching BBC Parliament like its Love Island. What is happening?’ 

‘Well your boss thought it would be a good idea to call a referendum to fix his party. And now the country is broken and everyone is angry,’ Rose said tartly. 

‘He isn’t my boss anymore,’ Scorpius said, rubbing one of his temples. 

‘Right,’ Rose said awkwardly. ‘Sorry about that. I think you did the right thing though.’ 

‘It’s not even going to matter,’ Scorpius said. ‘Can we please not talk about it though? It’s doing my head in.’ 

‘Fair,’ Rose said, having her own very long list of things she never wanted to talk about. 

‘So what about you?’ he asked. ‘Any work on the horizon.’ 

‘My agent’s pushing me to try out for screen work,’ Rose said as he handed her his glass.

She took a sip from it and briefly wondered why it felt so easy to talk to Scorpius Malfoy of all people. For a long period of her childhood she had rather resented him. After her parents had decided that the local grammar was entirely unable to deal with security necessary for the child of a prime minister, she had been put in Sanford Academy, a painfully fancy public school where they boarded while their parents went on to fix the world (that in Rose’s opinion remained resolutely unfixed). Thankfully it had been also agreed that her cousin and best friend, Albus, would join her. But it had been difficult. Rose had been a scrawny, know-it-all eleven year old with mountains of flame coloured hair that stuck out in every direction and braces. Al had fitted in perfectly of course. Born with the annoying ability to make friends wherever he went and a talent for rugby it was like coming home for him. And in Scorpius Malfoy, whose father was, quite ironically, the MP for Christchurch, the safest Tory seat in the country, he found another brother. It didn’t matter to Al that his father and his aunt were routinely eviscerated in the press by Draco Malfoy and it didn’t matter to Scorpius that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had put into place several laws that halved the family fortune. The two of them spent hours together, playing sports, video games and doing everything that boys that age did together. Then there was Rose, who to her shame couldn’t make friends with her other classmates and was forced to tag along with her cousin and his annoying best friend. They had been rivals for Al’s affection, Rose thought reflectively and with some amount of humour. She remembered the countless hours they spent, sniping at each other, while Al watched on, unwilling to take sides. By the time they got to their GCSE year they managed to come to a tentative detente and they had become quite an impressive revision team, mostly down to the fact that Rose was incredibly organised. She thought of the hours in library with her cousin and his best friend with a surprising amount of fondness. The detente was also aided by the fact that Scorpius Malfoy had come into Year 10 having gotten rid of his acne and having become around a foot taller. It was always a good thing to have something nice to look at when trying to remember how DNA replicates. 

‘Do you want to do screen work?’ he asked, mildly. 

Rose shot him a look. Whenever he used that tone with her it usually meant that he slightly disapproved. 

‘Wouldn’t mind it,’ she said. ‘It might give the papers something else to talk about y’know. I could use a break from the Daily Mail’s day to day update on who I’m screwing.’ 

‘Or it could just excite them more,’ he said. ‘Y’know, daughter of an ex-PM becoming an actress might be something the Daily Mail would be into.’ 

‘The Daily Mail is always excited about me,’ she said with a snort. ‘God you should’ve seen the coverage after-‘ 

She stopped short there. She hadn’t talked about this to anyone. Well anyone apart from Lily. And Lorcan of course. It was hard not to when he was living with her and dealing with practically the same thing.

There was a pause in conversation and Rose felt her heart beating a little faster. They were definitely going to talk about it now. He passed her his drink as if to get her to gird her loins. 

‘I am sorry about that,’ Scorpius said tentatively. ‘If I had been anywhere near him I’d’ve clocked him.’ 

Scorpius saw her shoulders tense and felt a pang of guilt at bringing it all up. 

‘Well someone would’ve I’m sure,’ Rose sighed. ‘But everyone was in shock. I don’t think I’ve even seen Mum and Dad more horrified.’ 

‘Well if my godson left my daughter at the altar for the girlfriend of other my godson who also happens to be his twin brother I’d be a little horrified too,’ Scorpius said, and then immediately winced. Shit he really shouldn’t’ve spelt it out quite like that. 

‘Sorry,’ he added as Rose threw back what was left in the glass. 

‘No, you’re right,’ she said. ‘It was all sorts of horrifying.’ 

‘Sorry,’ he said again, seemingly unable to do anything apart from apologise. 

‘You didn’t leave me at the altar did you? No it was Lysander ‘bloody' Scamander.’ 

‘I know,’ Scorpius said, rubbing his nose with his finger. ‘But still no one deserves…’ 

‘This?’ she asked flatly. ‘No I don’t suppose they do.’ 

Scorpius mentally berated himself. Fuck, he was such a fucking moron. It didn’t help that he was a little drunk and the girl whom he had fantasised about for a good portion of his teen years was sitting next to him on a bed. His brain had stopped working and it made him talk about topics that should be avoided. 

‘Well this is over,’ she said, holding up the glass. ‘I don’t suppose you have any more squirrelled away.’ 

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I checked but someone’s cleaned out Al’s stash.’ 

‘Damn,’ she said. ‘Lily’s cut me off. Though…’ She trailed off and looked at him contemplatively.

‘What are you thinking?’ he asked cautiously. When they were between the ages of fifteen and eighteen that look from Rose Weasley was often the sign of a possibly harrowing night to come. 

‘Well you could go down and get us some booze,’ she said. ‘But then you’re risking-‘ 

‘Freya, yes,’ Scorpius supplied. 

‘Well Al might have a stash of something else,’ she said, a little bit of a wicked glint in her eye. 

‘Wait does Al really keep pot in his parent’s house?’ Scorpius asked in surprise. ‘Like the ex-Home Minister has weed in his house. Weed that’s y’know…put there by my best friend?’ 

‘Yes to all of that,’ Rose said with a nod. ‘How do you think he sits through those dinners that Zacharias Smith forces all of us to come to and on occasion host?’ 

Zacharias Smith was the new leader of the Labour Party and to say he was a sore trial would be being kind. 

‘Thank God I’m not a member of the Labour Party,’ Scorpius said fervently and then remembered that at this point he wasn’t a member of any party. 

‘Well Al runs up here and…y’know…’ 

‘Yes I do know,’ he said. ‘I lived with him for three years. I don’t think we ever managed to get the smell out of the sofa.’ 

‘I don’t think you tried very hard,’ Rose said, knocking against his shoulder. 

‘I suppose not,’ Scorpius sighed. ‘You know I haven’t smoked anything since I went into politics.’ 

‘That was just after you left uni,’ Rose said, counting the years on her hand. ‘So it’s been seven years then.’ 

‘Yeah seven fucking years,’ he said a little bitterly.

‘Well?’ Rose asked expectantly. ‘Do you want to…? 

‘I mean my career is over so why not,’ Scorpius said with a shrug. 

‘Don’t talk rubbish,’ Rose said as walked over to the cabinet on the other side of the room. ‘It’s not over. It’s just that the world is ending and nothing matters anymore. If we ever become civilised human beings again, you’ll have a career.’ 

‘Yeah? When’s that going to happen?’ he muttered, more to himself than to her. 

Rose began fiddling around with the panelling until one popped open to reveal a small brown box. 

‘Lily doesn’t know all her brother’s secrets yet,’ Rose said with satisfaction as she opened the box. ‘And he kept it fully stocked. Such a good boy.’ 

She sat at the desk and put a little of the pot into the grinder that Al had provided. 

‘Y’know it’s been a while for me too,’ she said as she carefully ground it down. ‘I don’t usually have to do this myself.’ 

‘God are we going to get a proper Rose Weasley joint?’ Scorpius asked mock disappointedly. ‘I remember trying to smoke some of those. I think I needed a gas mask after.’ 

‘They were fine,’ she snapped back, but there wasn’t much heat. ‘Besides I’ve become a lot better now.’ 

She went back to the task at hand, mixing the weed and tobacco on a piece of paper she had found in the desk. For some reason Scorpius was unable to take his eyes off her delicate hands when she began rolling a roach. Her fingers were long and tapered and the fading black nail polish on them was just indescribably sexy for some reason. He almost rolled his eyes at himself. Of course he’d manage get turned on by Rose Weasley’s hands. She picked up the paper and deposited the tobacco and pot mixture into a rolling paper. Then with practiced movements, that rather belied the earlier claim that she hadn’t done this in a while, she rolled up the joint and stuck out a small pink tongue and licked the paper to get it sticky. 

Fuck, he felt a burst of desire that he quickly tried to tamp down. But it absolutely wasn’t his fault that she was so goddamn attractive. It was a combination of the cerulean blue eyes, the untameable red curls, the high perfect breasts that made it entirely impossible to sit in the same room as Rose Weasley and not feel just a little bit aroused. It had been far worse when he was seventeen and Rose used to wander around Al’s house in the shortest possible shorts during summer. He still thought about the curve of her bottom in her favourite (and his for that matter) pair of white shorts on occasion. Of course now she was a professional model and the raw beauty that she had at the age of seventeen had morphed into something that he (and most of Britain) could barely comprehend. 

‘Are we going to smoke it here?’ he asked.

‘Yup,’ she said. ‘You must’ve done this before Scor.’ 

‘Yes but like I said, it's been a while.’ 

‘We’ll just smoke it out of his window. You know that’s why Al got the room that faces out into the back garden and not the front one.’ 

Scorpius smiled. ‘He picked this room when he was eight Rose,’ he said. ‘I don’t think this is what he had in mind.’ 

‘You never know,’ Rose said with a giggle as she passed the joint to Scorpius and handed him a lighter. 

‘Cheers,’ he said, as he put the joint between his lips and lit it. 

He took a couple of drags and forced himself not to cough. It really had been a long time. 

‘Fuck,’ Rose said after she smoked it. ‘This is good stuff. I can’t believe he just leaves it here.’ 

‘Well he does like convenience doesn’t he,’ Scorpius said as he took the joint back from her. ‘This is a little ridiculous though.’

‘I suppose indie-rockstar,’ Rose said, contemplatively. ‘Comes with the territory.’ 

‘Yes he doesn’t need to hit the high notes does he,’ Scorpius said, with a laugh. The pot was getting to him a little already and he began to feel oddly weightless. 

‘No I suppose he doesn’t.’ 

The two of them smoked in silence, listening to the noise of the party from below. Rose snuck a glance at Scorpius as he was taking a drag and felt herself smiling. 

‘What?’ he asked, a little self-consciously. 

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘But I don’t reckon we’ve done this since third year. Not together.’ 

‘No we got busy didn’t we,’ Scorpius said lightly as he nudged her with his shoulder. The contact briefly made her forget what they were talking about. Sure she felt all dark and twisty inside but smoking weed with Scorpius Malfoy made her stomach do backflips. 

‘You got busy,’ she said. ‘I started doing something that I thought would be easy money and then I got stuck. And it’s not even easy, it’s just a lot.’ 

‘You got a First from Cambridge,’ he said. ‘Al and I barely scraped 2:1s. You can still do anything you want.’ 

‘I know,’ Rose said. ‘Objectively I know that. But-‘ 

‘It’s a lot of money,’ Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes. ‘God what I wouldn’t give for those brains of yours.’ 

‘Well maybe if you and Al hadn’t smoked quite as much weed as you did you’d have Firsts as well,’ Rose said, sounding bossy. 

Scorpius grinned widely at her tone. ‘I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed that,’ he said. ‘Rose Weasley, telling me not to waste time and study. Still hear it in my dreams you know.’ It was vastly different from the wild child Rose Weasley that emerged after graduation, who he, on occasion, had trouble recognising. 

‘You let me order you around in your dreams?’ Rose asked, amused. 

‘Sometimes,’ Scorpius said and maybe it was a mixture of alcohol and weed and Rose Weasley's frankly intoxicating presence, because instead of just leaving it at that he had to add, ‘Sometimes I do the ordering around myself.’ 

‘Oh,’ she said faintly and he knew he had utterly and completely blown it. 

‘I’m joking,’ he said quickly and entirely unconvincingly. 

‘Oh,’ she said again, but this time Scorpius could’ve sworn she there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. 

‘Do you think Al will notice?’ he asked, desperately trying to change the subject. ‘That we’ve dipped into his-‘ 

‘Nah,’ Rose said easily. ‘And he won’t care anyway.’ 

They were getting close to the end of the joint and Scorpius felt a little disappointed. It was almost over, this weirdly magical time he had spent with Rose Weasley.

‘The three of us should hang out sometime,’ he said. ‘Y’know, like old times.’ 

‘Get stoned, play a game of Risk and listen to a vinyl on Al’s hopelessly pretentious turntable?’ she asked, her lips quirking up in amusement. ‘I’d reckon I wouldn’t mind a Sunday doing that.’

‘Give it a couple of months and I’ll most likely be on the dole,’ he said. ‘So I can spend all my time doing that.’ 

‘Hah,’ Rose scoffed. ‘Mum didn’t quite manage to bankrupt you with her wealth tax. I’d imagine you have enough money to float a small country.’ 

‘It would have to be very small,’ Scorpius said, wryly. ‘Dad was pretty torn up about it.’ 

‘Well I’m not losing any sleep about that,’ she said, taking one last drag and putting the joint out. 

‘Neither am I,’ he said. 

They settled back on to the bed. Rose felt a shiver run through her. 

‘Cold?’ he asked. 

‘Always so perceptive,’ she said. ‘It’s the pot. It sometimes happens. It’s funny ‘cause my head feels warm but the rest of me well…’ 

She laid a freezing cold hand on Scorpius’ arm and he could feel his skin tingle from her touch. 

‘I have a warm core,’ she continued, entirely oblivious to the ridiculous reaction he had to her touch. ‘But weirdly cold limbs. I think I probably have bad circulation.’ 

‘Sounds about right,’ Scorpius murmured. They were so close to each other, he could feel the heat emanating off her body. He could see every single freckle in the smattering across her pert little nose and soft cheeks. He could count them if he wanted to. 

‘I don’t want to go back down there,’ Rose said. ‘I just don’t want to deal with all the pity and the looks.’

‘It’s tough,’ Scorpius said. ‘But it’ll get better. I mean think about it, you could be married to that tosser Scamander instead.’ 

Rose let out a sharp, laugh devoid of any trace of humour. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘God I know you are. I mean especially now. Can you imagine if he had gone through with it? If we had had kids. And then he’d go and leave me for his sister-in-law like an untalented version of Ryan Giggs.’ 

‘See,’ Scorpius said, his smile sending a pang of desire racing through her chest. ‘It could be worse. You could’ve been Stacey Giggs.’ 

‘I’d have £20 million then,’ Rose said. ‘There are worse things than being Stacey Giggs.’ 

‘I wish I were Stacey Giggs,’ Scorpius said, desperately attempting to ignore the hand that was still lightly placed on his arm. 

‘From what the papers’ve written about him you probably could be the next Mrs Ryan Giggs,’ she said. ‘Just make sure he gets you pregnant.’ 

‘I’ll try,’ Scorpius said with a roll of his eyes. 

‘Were you kidding?’ she asked suddenly, taking her hand off his arm. 

‘About wanting to be Stacey Giggs?’ he asked. ‘Yeah I don’t reckon I could find it in myself to sleep with members of third rate boy bands.’ 

‘Do you dream about me ordering you around?’ she asked, a tell-tale blush spreading across her cheeks. 

‘I think I said I was the one doing the ordering,’ he said, desperately trying to clear his head. But all he could think about was pressing Rose Weasley back against the bed and kissing his way down her body. 

‘So you’ve thought about it then?’ she asked. ‘Y’know…you and me. In a bed.’

‘Rose I don’t think I’d be classified as a heterosexual male human if I hadn’t. I couldn’t help it,’ Scorpius said, amused almost despite himself. God this was going badly, but a blushing Rose Weasley was a treat no matter the situation. ‘You do know that most men in Britain have probably-

‘But that’s different,’ she said, cutting him off. ‘They don’t…know me.’ 

‘If they did you’d never get anything done,’ he said. ‘You’d have miles too many stalkers. You wouldn’t be able to leave your house.’ 

‘Yes, a semi-alcoholic who got left at the altar,’ she said flatly. ‘I’d have men lining up on the street.’ 

Scorpius shot a look at her that she couldn’t quite place. He seemed almost annoyed. 

‘You are ridiculous,’ he said, but he was definitely leaning towards her more than he had been a second ago. She swallowed almost nervously and stayed very still. Scorpius Malfoy was going to kiss her, she thought absently. 

‘I’ve thought about it too you know,’ she said, when he was so close their noses were almost touching. ‘I couldn’t help it either.’ 

The words seemed to ignite something almost animal in Scorpius because there was no way people kissed like that. Especially not when it was a first kiss. His lips were soft but purposeful and he was soon eliciting breathy gasps from her as he nipped and sucked at her lower lip. 

‘Open,’ he growled, and, feeling a bolt of arousal that shoot through her body, Rose obeyed. He explored her mouth with his tongue and she felt herself melt into him. Nothing was cold anymore. Not a single one of her limbs. He had heated her up so thoroughly she could barely think straight with all that warmth rushing through her body. 

‘Fuck,’ he murmured as he detached himself from her. ‘You’re the most beautiful brilliant person I know but I can’t believe I’m doing this so drunk and so stoned.’ 

‘Worried you’re making a mistake?’ she asked, though judging by the way his hand had begun travelling up the back of her dress, he didn’t seem to be stopping. 

‘Fuck no,’ he said, his inability to keep his language in check somehow making him more attractive to her. ‘I just don’t want to forget anything.’ 

‘Trust me,’ she said wickedly. ‘I’m pretty memorable.’ 

‘I’ll say,’ he muttered under his breath, and continued to plunder her mouth with his. 

He slipped her thin black dress off and was for a brief second stunned by the perfection of her body. 

‘Like what you see?’ she teased him unmercifully. 

His only response was to press her down on the bed and continue kissing her. He kissed and sucked her neck while teasing a nipple through the material of her bra. As she squirmed and moaned under him, he could feel himself becoming almost painfully hard. She pulled off his t-shirt and ran her fingers across his lean, toned body. She lit small fires everywhere she touched him and Scorpius knew he had to be inside her or he would just-

‘What the fuck?!’ 

Standing in the doorway, looking entirely thunderstruck was Albus Potter. Rose and Scorpius immediately sprang apart. 

‘Dammit Scor,’ Rose swore as she grabbed her dress. ‘We smoked a joint and then started having sex and you didn’t lock the door?’ 

‘I didn’t have the time,’ Scorpius shot back. ‘Why didn’t you lock it?’ 

‘I was rolling the joint you should’ve done it.’ 

Albus’ face went through a veritable journey as they bickered. 

‘So you guys were having sex in my bed?’ he asked slowly. ‘After smoking my weed? At my Nan’s birthday party?’

‘That’s about right,’ Scorpius said coolly, even though his emotions were running riot in his head. 

‘And she’s my Nan too,’ Rose added. 

‘Sorry,’ Al said, exaggerating his apology. ‘You were getting stoned and having sex at your Nan’s birthday party.’ 

‘What a way to reunite the crew,’ Scor said dryly. 

‘Yeah it’s been a delight,’ Al said sarcastically. 

There was a beep from Rose’s phone and she looked at the message with a frown. 

‘Well I have to head,’ she said, gathering her things. ‘I’ll see you boys around.’ 

‘See you,’ Scorpius muttered, his earlier cool evaporating quickly. He felt a gnawing disappointment in his stomach that had a little bit to d with the fact that he was incredibly frustrated sexually and a lot to do with the fact that he wasn’t entirely certain when he’d see Rose next. 

‘So did you two actually…?’ Al trailed off tentatively once he was sure Rose had left. 

‘No,’ Scorpius said, laying back in the bed, his forehead creased in frustration. 

‘Oh thank god,’ Al said as he went to sit down next to his best friend. ‘I mean I know this hasn’t been my bed for ten years but I’d really rather you didn’t have disgusting sex with my cousin in it.’ 

Scorpius just let out a rather frustrated groan into a pillow. ‘Fuck,’ he said. ‘Fuck fuck fuck.’ 

‘It can’t be all that bad,’ Al said mildly. 

‘I lost my job last week,’ Scorpius said, sending a baleful look at his best friend.

‘And that’s why you’re moaning into a pillow?’ Al asked. 

Scorpius just shot him a look of annoyance and Al sighed. 

‘Look mate, I know it’s Rose and she’s…well…I personally don’t understand the appeal but I know that anyone who isn’t related to her probably sees it. But trust me it’s better that you stopped before…y’know…you got involved.’ 

‘Maybe I wanted to get involved,’ Scorpius said, his words sounding a little pathetic to his own ears. 

‘No,’ Al said definitively. ‘Look you lost your job and you’ve been messing around with Freya and Rose has her own issues to deal with.’ 

‘I know,’ Scorpius said, with a groan. ‘I know.’ 

‘I mean I don’t know the half of it because Lily’s surprisingly good at keeping secrets, but I know it isn’t good. You just have to leave it there mate.’ 

‘I don’t think I’m up for a Weasley family get together at the moment,’ Scorpius admitted. ‘I shouldn’t’ve come.’ 

‘Nan would’ve be shattered if you hadn’t,’ Al said. ‘You know she likes you more than any of her own grandchildren. 

‘Probably because she didn’t have to change my diapers,’ Scorpius said with a hollow laugh. 

Al just looked at him worriedly. ‘Why don’t you come and stay at mine for a bit?’ he asked. ‘I mean it’s close enough to parliament.’ 

‘Thanks Al,’ Scorpius said dully, even though he was grateful. 

Al sighed again. ‘It’ll be alright mate. Just give it time.’


	2. Constitutional Crisis

‘Christ you look like a wreck.’ 

Rose smiled ruefully. She could always rely on Lorcan to tell her exactly what he thought. 

‘What a lovely welcome,’ she said mildly. ‘Missed you terribly.’ 

‘I told you you didn’t have to go,’ he said. ‘That bloody Lily-‘ 

‘Has pretty much been the only reason you and I have survived,’ Rose said, cutting him off. ‘I wouldn’t complain about her.’ 

Lorcan glared up at her and Rose felt a pang of something undefinable in her chest. It didn’t help that she saw at a genetic copy of the man who had broken her heart every day of her life, but what was even worse was what Lysander’s betrayal had done to Lorcan. When she had started dating Lysander he and his twin looked identical. They were blond, brown-eyed Adonises with high cheekbones and devastating smiles. And Lorcan was bright-eyed, competitive and wickedly funny. Now, his once divinely wrought body had crumbled, just like the rest of his life, and he had definitely developed the beginnings of a gut. No, Rose, with her penchant for doing before thinking could forgive a lot, but she couldn’t forgive this. 

Rose sank into the sofa next to him and put a head on his shoulder. 

‘Did they give you a lot of grief?’ he asked gruffly, clearly trying to hide his worry that the evening might set Rose off on a bender. 

‘Not a lot,’ Rose said absently. She was still thinking about Scorpius Malfoy and his rather talented tongue. God if she knew he kissed like that she would’ve tried to sleep with him years ago. She couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to-

‘Rose.’ Lorcan snapped his fingers in front of her. ‘Are you still here.’ 

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, shamefaced. ‘I was just thinking.’ 

‘About the guy you shagged?’ Lorcan asked, raising an eyebrow. 

‘What?’ Rose asked a her face reddening. ‘I didn’t shag anyone.’ 

‘You have a hickey the size of Africa on your neck,’ Lorcan said, brushing his fingers over the side of her neck. 

‘Fuck,’ Rose swore. ‘That prat.’ 

‘So who did you shag at your Nan’s birthday party?’ Lorcan asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

Rose moaned. ‘I didn’t even manage to shag him,’ she said mournfully. ‘Al interrupted and then I got your text.’ 

‘Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt,’ Lorcan said. He was openly laughing at her now and she did not appreciate it. 

‘It was Scorpius Malfoy,’ she said. ‘That’s who gave me the hickey. Like I was a year ten girl with her first boyfriend.’ 

‘Well that must’ve been some pretty heavy petting then,’ Lorcan said when he stopped laughing. 

‘It was weird,’ she admitted. ‘I had forgotten that we used to get along for the most part. I just remembered us battling for Al’s attention.’ 

‘Hah,’ Lorcan snorted. ‘I remember that too.’ 

‘We smoked Al’s weed too,’ she said. ‘Together I mean. Before we almost-‘ 

‘Banged one out,’ Lorcan supplied. 

‘Thank you, yes,’ Rose said acerbically. ‘Exactly the words I was looking for.’ 

‘Happy to help,’ Lorcan said with a smile. 

‘I’m glad you seem to be in a better mood,’ Rose said. ‘When you text me it’s usually a cry for help.’ 

‘Not this time,’ Lorcan said. ‘Just a cry for more wine.’ 

Rose poured two glasses out and handed one to Lorcan. 

‘Did you at least nick some of Al’s weed?’ Lorcan asked. ‘You know he gets the best stuff.’ 

‘Didn’t want to be smelling like a student flat on the tube,’ Rose said. ‘Just ask him and he’ll send a flunky over. The non-disclosure contracts they sign are something else.’ 

‘So Scorpius Malfoy huh?’ Lorcan asked after having a few sips of his wine. ‘What was it like to have the ‘nation’s greatest traitor’ almost fuck you.’ 

‘The Sun?’ she asked. 

‘Yup,’ he said. ‘The Guardian did say call him ‘the country’s last hope’ though. So I suppose it balances out.’ 

‘Well he kisses like a pirate,’ she said meditatively. 

‘I don’t know if that’s good or not,’ Lorcan said, an amused expression on his face.

‘It isn’t sometimes,’ Rose said. ‘But with Scorpius it was really really good. His whole, I’ve-imploded-my-career-for-the-good-of-the-country thing is definitely working for him.’ 

‘Yes, in a bizarre twist of fate suddenly the most attractive man in the country to Labour voting, remainer women is Scorpius Malfoy,’ Lorcan said wryly. ‘A Malfoy, a leftwing pinup. Who’d’ve thought.’ 

‘Well I can’t imagine he’ll have much of a career after this so he should probably enjoy it while he can,’ Rose said. ‘You can’t win Christchurch if you aren’t a Tory.’ 

‘This is why no one should go into politics,’ Lorcan said. ‘Stick to any principles and you’re slung out as quickly as possible.’ 

‘I don’t know if he meant to go into politics,’ she said fairly. ‘It was just that his dad died and the party asked him. He didn’t feel like he could say no.’ 

‘His father died eight years ago,’ Lorcan said sceptically. ‘He must want to be doing it now if he’s still doing it.’ 

‘I think he does like it,’ Rose said, almost surprised that she knew so much about Scorpius. ‘He likes the constituency work, weirdly enough. I think he just wants to be one of those MPs that goes around fixing lampposts and lobbying for funding for better schools and hospitals. I don’t think he ever planned to be a principle character in a political psychodrama.’ 

‘No I suppose no one ever does plan that sort of thing, do they,’ Lorcan agreed. 

‘He’s a good MP,’ she said. ‘It’s a shame.’ 

‘So he’s not just another…’ Lorcan trailed off suggestively. 

Rose sighed. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I mean I don’t know if he’s still involved with Freya Thomas. And Al wouldn’t like it I think.’ 

‘Freya Thomas is a cunt,’ Lorcan said matter-of-factly. ‘I wouldn’t think that any man in his right mind would pick her over you. And Al’s a fully grown man, even though he seems to have trouble remembering that sometimes. I don’t think those are very impressive obstacles Rosie.’ 

‘I don’t want a relationship with Scorpius Malfoy,’ Rose said with a laugh. ‘I mean…it’s Scor. I went to Malia with him and Al and saw them get up to all sorts of things no girl should ever have to see. I was there the night him and Al smoked so much weed they ended up acting out a scene from Stalin’s politburo. I mean sure, I’ve possibly always wondered what it would be like to be one of those perfect looking women who are always impeccably dressed in pantsuits who he seems to…y’know…gravitate to. But I’m not. In case you didn’t notice I’m kind of a mess. I started drinking before I left the house today, then I stole some pot from my cousin after which I almost had sex with a childhood friend. And all of this happened because my Nan turned another year older. I couldn’t even deal with that!’

Her tone had quickly gone from jokey to intense and there was a moment of silence after her rant. A second later Lorcan shifted his position so she was now firmly tucked into his side. She lay her head on his chest and, even though she knew it wasn’t a good thing to think, thanked god that this man had been hurt as much as she had because she wasn’t entirely certain she would’ve survived. 

‘Rose, it sounds like the problems you have are that you’ve known him too long and the fact that you’re you.’ His tone was gentle and Rose felt soothed by it even though the word he was saying were hardly soothing at all. ‘And to be honest love, both of those are you problems, not Scorpius Malfoy problems. I definitely don’t think you should be in a relationship now. But the parade of undesirables that’s been traipsing through here… it’s not a great look.’ 

She clung to him tighter and could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

‘Hey, hey. Don’t cry,’ he said, turning her face up to his. He brushed a thumb under her eye and smiled tiredly. 

‘It’s just that I never thought my life would look like this,’ she said, managing not to sound tearful. 

‘Neither did I to be fair,’ he said wryly ‘But I’m not saying this stuff to hurt you. You know that right?’ 

She nodded in assent, her head still in his hands. 

‘Look I can’t have Lysander ruin two lives instead of just one,’ he said. There was only a trace of antipathy in his voice when he said his brother’s name and Rose was proud of him. It had been a long time before he could talk about him without an expletive preceding it. 

‘He hasn’t ruined your life yet,’ Rose said as he released her head and tucked her back under his arm. 

‘He made me fat,’ Lorcan said ruefully, poking at his stomach. 

‘We could do something that would really piss him off,’ Rose said, a glint in her eye. 

Lorcan looked alarmed. ‘Rose, you know I love you but I really don’t think sleeping with each other would help.’ 

‘Ew that’s not what I was going to say, you pervert,’ Rose said with a laugh. She turned to him. ’Though now that you mention it-‘ 

‘No,’ Lorcan said firmly. ‘Too weird. You’ve seen my brothers…bits. It would just be too weird.’ 

‘But you have thought about it,’ Rose said, vastly entertained by how flustered he was. 

He just glared at her and she laughed again. ‘What would really piss him off then?’ 

‘We could both stop spiralling rather than desperately trying to stop each other from bottoming out,’ Rose said hesitantly. 

‘You mean desperately trying to stop each other from bottoming out then calling Lily to actually come and pull us out of whatever shit we’ve fallen into,’ he said, his tone oddly flat. 

‘Tomatoe - tomatoh,’ Rose said with a shrug. ‘It could work.’ 

‘I’d have to call and beg them for my job back,’ Lorcan said with a groan. 

‘They’d take you in a second. You know they said you could take as much time as you needed to get better but you were the one who insisted on quitting,’ Rose said. 

‘And you have to stop antagonising the paparazzi,’ Lorcan said. ‘If I’m going back to work I’ll actually have to leave the house every day and I don’t think I could handle that.’ 

‘Are you trying to tell me to do less drugs after asking if I had nicked some weed,’ Rose asked mock sternly. 

‘Well at least no hard drugs,’ Lorcan said. And with a smile that swept away the recent ravages to his face added, ‘You aren’t an alcoholic, you’re just kind of fucked up.’ 

‘And we have to start going to the gym again,’ Rose said, hiding her own smile. ‘You can’t keep walking around the flat moaning about your paunch.’ 

‘Deal,’ Lorcan said, holding out a hand. ‘No hard drugs, go back to the gym and I’ll get my job back.’ 

‘Deal,’ Rose repeated, taking his hand. 

‘So are we turning a corner then?’ he asked tentatively. 

‘I suppose we are,’ Rose said grinning at him. 

The next day dawned bright, and far too early for Rose. 

‘I thought you said we would go to the gym,’ Lorcan said. He was already dressed for a run, complete with a little iPhone carrier strapped to his arm. 

‘God I meant like next weekend,’ Rose mumbled into her pillow. 

‘Come on,’ ‘Lorcan said, pulling the blanket off her without showing even a hint of remorse. 

‘I hate you the most out of everyone,’ she said mutinously as she rubbed her eyes. 

The gym was predictably terrible. Rose was entirely too hungover to even be attempting something like this. Though she had to admit to herself that she, like Lorcan, was beginning to look a little fuller than she had before. There was nothing wrong with that but Rose was very well aware that her livelihood depended on her looks, and therefore she had to at least try and maintain her figure. 

‘If we’re doing this every morning I’m divorcing you,’ she complained to Lorcan, as they sat drinking coffee and waiting for their breakfast. Feeling that their first gym session warranted a treat, they had stopped at the cafe a few minutes away from their house. Lorcan had ordered a weird hippie English breakfast and Rose ordered bacon and pancakes. 

‘It has halloumi in it,’ he told Rose excitedly as she picked at her pancakes. 

‘It’s weird how obsessed you are with everything cheese and cheese adjacent,’ Rose said. ‘I mean half that weight’s come from alcohol and the other half from cheese.’ 

‘And you’re all alcohol,’ Lorcan said sardonically. 

‘And proud,’ Rose said flippantly. 

‘I’ll call the office tomorrow,’ Lorcan said, lines of stress appearing in his forehead. ‘I don’t even know what I’m going to say.’ 

‘Well you have the evening to figure it out because I will be at my Nan’s celebrating her actual birthday.’ 

‘So what was yesterday’s thing then?’ Lorcan asked. 

‘That was the party,’ Rose said. ‘You know the one where they invite everyone who would be insulted to be left out but isn’t really that important. It’s held in Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry’s house ‘cause it’s bigger. It’s just not the real birthday.’ 

‘It explains why I got the invite for that one,’ Lorcan remarked. 

‘Yeah well Scorpius will be invited to the one tonight,’ she said. ‘Is it terrible to hope for a constitutional crisis so he won’t be able to make it?’ 

‘Yes it objectively is terrible,’ Lorcan said with a laugh. ‘And you’ll be fine. He won’t be hiding from Freya at least if it’s just a family and friends thing. So if you want to talk to him you can, but you can also probably avoid him pretty easily.’ 

‘Do you think I should talk to him?’ she asked. ‘Or is it just too weird?’ 

‘Nope, you have to figure that one out yourself,’ Lorcan said firmly. 

He had finished his breakfast and was now spooning the jam that had come with Rose’s pancakes into his mouth. 

‘Lorcan,’ Rose complained, as he looked up at her guiltily. 

‘I’m hungry,’ he said, beseechingly. 

‘Here you can finish the last half,’ Rose said, giving him her plate. 

‘Nice,’ he said, digging in with relish. ‘Thanks.’ 

‘You know you can come with me,’ she said suddenly. ‘Tonight. Yeah, it’ll be way more fun then.’ 

Lorcan snorted. ‘I am not braving a sea of Weasleys after my idiot brother ditched you.’ 

‘They don’t blame you for anything,’ Rose said, stung. 

‘I can’t imagine it’ll be easy to see my face nevertheless,’ he said with a wry smile. 

‘I don’t think it’s easy for them to see mine,’ Rose admitted quietly. 

They sat in silence as they waited for the bill and Rose realised that she was actually strangely excited by the thought of this evening.

The day seemed to drag on. Rose spent most of it watching Netflix and dodging calls from her agent. She would get back to work on Monday but she had to keep a clear head for tonight. When five o’clock rolled around, Rose decided it was time to get ready. She rifled through her mostly black wardrobe and finally found an a-line dress that made her look sexy but not tarty. She carefully applied her eyeliner with little flicks at the end that thankfully were mostly even. She put on a heavy coat of mascara, conscious as always of her pale eyelashes and topped her look up with a neutral coloured lipstick that made her lips look just a little bit fuller. 

As she walked out of the door she saw Lorcan, seated the dining table, hunched over his laptop, typing furiously. She smiled to herself and walked out of the flat. The train ride was mostly uneventful, apart from the boy next to her getting hauled over the coals because his 16-25 rail pass had expired. She felt oddly nervous as she rang the bell to her grandparents house, even though most of her oldest memories were situated here. 

The door opened and a flustered looking Lily was at the door. 

‘Oh it’s you,’ she said, and ushered Rose in. 

‘Lovely to see you too Lily,’ Rose said, as her cousin steered her towards the kitchen. 

‘God have you not heard?’ Lily asked, as she began boiling the kettle. 

‘Heard what?’ Rose asked. ‘What happened?’ 

‘Gregory Goyle is proroguing parliament on Monday,’ she said. ‘It’s a mess. No one knows what’s going to happen. Dad and Aunt Hermione have been locked up in some super secret Labour Party meeting since this afternoon.’ 

‘Fuck,’ Rose swore. ‘I didn’t read the news.’ 

‘At least everyone else made it,’ Lily said. ‘Al’s already plastered if you can believe it. His manager took him out record label shopping today and apparently that involved many pints.’ 

Almost as if he had been waiting for her to talk about him Albus Potter strode through the kitchen door seconds later. 

‘Rosie,’ he said with a hesitant nod. He continued to look at her, his expression a mixture of accusation and annoyance. 

‘Oh you’ve seen worse,’ Rose said and batted him on the arm. ‘Stop looking at me like that.’ 

‘What’s happened?’ Lily asked suspiciously. 

‘Rose here decided that she hadn’t alienated enough of our family friends so she thought maybe she’d try for some of mine,’ Al said, his tone harsh. 

Rose gasped. ‘That’s just mean,’ she said, hurt. 

‘Yeah Al that’s way out of line,’ Lily said, glaring at her brother. 

‘Did you ask her what she was up to at Nan’s party last night?’ Al asked Lily, turning his piercing green eyes to her warm brown ones. 

‘No but you’re acting like an arsehole,’ Lily said, firing back at her brother. She hadn’t realised quite how protective she had gotten of Rose until then. 

‘She tried to screw my best mate,’ he said sharply. ‘I don’t see how I’m the bad guy here.’ 

‘You did what?’ Lily asked, staring at her cousin with wide eyes. 

‘We didn’t screw,’ Rose said, turning red. 

‘In my bed that too,’ Al said. He was clearly still rattled by the previous night but Rose felt he was being a little harsh. 

‘We didn’t,’ Rose repeated. ‘We just smoked some of Al’s weed and fooled around a little.’ 

‘Well whatever happened it can’t happen again,’ Al said, glaring at his cousin. ‘He’s not doing so brilliantly now and getting dragged into the Rose Weasley circus is the last thing he needs.’

‘It’s not going to happen again,’ Rose said firmly. She hated Al when he was belligerently drunk and she hated him even more when he was right. 

‘Okay we need to have a chat,’ Lily said, ushering Rose away from Albus. 

The best thing about the Burrow was the fact that it had a million rooms a person could slip into if they wanted privacy. Sure it was a little rundown. Rose knew that her grandparents, while being an old money family, were also exactly that, an old money family. Whatever they had had been spent centuries ago as the land the family owned grew progressively smaller, until all that was left was a shabby but very homey sort of mansion. Having seven children certainly hadn’t kept the costs down for Rose’s grandparents and only after their children started becoming fabulously successful was the house remodelled to some extent. It still had the comfortable shabbiness that Rose associated with her childhood, but at least there was always hot water. 

‘So, tell me what happened.’ Lily looked at Rose expectantly as they sat on the bed in Lily’s mother’s old bedroom. 

‘I was avoiding Aunt Fleur, he was avoiding Freya,’ Rose said quietly. ‘And we were hiding I suppose. In Al’s room.’ 

‘And,’ Lily prompted. ‘Go on.’ 

‘Honestly,’ Rose said with a sigh. ‘I don’t even know how it happened. One minute we were talking and it felt almost like we were back at university. But I mean we were talking about stuff that’s definitely happening now. And then we were smoking Al’s weed and it really felt like we were back at university.’ 

‘I always knew you two had a thing for each other,’ Lily said knowledgeably. 

‘We absolutely did not,’ Rose said with a scandalised gasp. 

‘How was it?’ Lily asked curiously. 

‘Why do you want to know?’ Rose asked, her ears burning. 

‘I mean I’ve wondered…’ Lily said trailing off. She blushed too and Rose saw with satisfaction that all red heads were in fact in exactly the same boat when it came to their ability to hide their emotions.

‘Oh shut up, you know what I mean. He’s just so potentially evil yet maybe, possibly, morally upright. And I saw him grow into that body same as you y’know.’ 

‘Oh I know,’ Rose said, hiding a smile. ‘We went to uni together too remember. I practically lived with him and Al for those three years.’ 

‘But it was good wasn’t it?’ Lily said with a smirk. ‘It definitely was.’ 

Rose just nodded in assent and fought the urge to hide her face in her hands. Lily’s smirk turned into a full-blown grin. 

‘But Al’s right,’ Rose said. ‘I have to stay away. I can barely handle the Rose circus. I don’t think that on top of expulsion from his party is a good idea. For him or for me.’ 

‘Did you hope you’d see him tonight?’ Lily asked, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. 

‘I hoped for a constitutional crisis,’ Rose confessed.


	3. Important People and Real Birthdays

The meeting had been going on for hours and Scorpius had never felt worse. It was the beady eyes of the new Labour Leader that made him most uncomfortable. Zacharias Smith had turned into a canny politician, effectively consigning the person Scorpius had always thought of as Labour Leader to the sidelines. Hermione Granger was here, even though she was sitting at the back. Next to her, her right-hand man and Scorpius’ father’s greatest nemesis was intently listening to her as she whispered. The two of them had made too many friends over the years for Smith to deny them a seat at the table. Hermione Granger had won three elections and was the last Labour Prime Minister and since Zacharias Smith had been Labour Leader for less than half the time she had and had never won an election so he had, on occasion, grudgingly taken her advice. 

‘So will there be another referendum?’ 

The discussion had been going in circles for hours and Scorpius could feel his rebel colleagues getting restless. When he had defied the whip and voted against the government, effectively denying the new and extremely unstable Prime Minister a majority for his main platform, the whip had summarily been divested from Scorpius and the twenty-odd people he had convinced into joining him. 

‘Still sure we made the correct decision?’ Damon Zabini asked Scorpius under his breath as a fight broke out between a Lib-Dem and SNP MP over Scottish Independence. 

‘Everyone is just wound up,’ Scorpius whispered back. ‘No one knows why he did it. The Northern Irish bill was suppose to prevent him from doing it.’ 

‘Look I don’t regret leaving. I can see a sinking ship and I make an excellent rat. But you never mentioned it would be so many hours spent looking at his stupid mug.’ Damon gestured to Zacharias Smith whose intense eyes never left farce playing out in front of him. 

‘Government of national unity.’ Scorpius’ ears pricked up. 

Hermione Granger’s clear and oddly pleasant voice cut through the hall. 

‘Now that’s more like it,’ Damon murmured. 

That was when all hell broke loose. Every single person in the room seemed to have an opinion on what she had just said and even Damon sat up straighter in his chair and grinned. 

‘She still has it doesn’t she?’ he said admiringly to Scorpius. 

Harry Potter caught Scorpius’ eye and shot him a smile. He gestured to him and Scorpius made to get up. 

‘What are you doing?’ Damon hissed. ‘You’re in the front row.’ 

‘Hold down the fort,’ Scorpius said. ‘I need a loo break.’ 

‘You had better get back quickly,’ he muttered. 

Scorpius made his way through a corridor where Harry Potter was waiting for him. Despite the fact that he had spent most of his childhood in Harry and Ginny Potter’s house, kicking a football around and playing video games, he felt oddly shy. He needn’t have worried. Mr Potter gave him a huge grin and thumped him on the back. 

‘Always knew you couldn’t stay away,’ Mr Potter said. ‘A bit dramatic though.’ 

‘God if you had seen him,’ Scorpius said, almost groaning. ‘I might’ve not done it if he hadn’t been so useless.’ 

‘And sending Mara Finnegan over to the Lib Dems just as he was talking about taking back control. Was that you too?’ 

‘She wanted to leave,’ Scorpius said with a shrug. ‘I was angry. I wanted to make him look as ridiculous as possible.’ 

‘You did,’ Harry said. ‘Thank god for BBC Parliament. That got a million views on YouTube.’ 

‘So a government of national unity?’ Scorpius asked sceptically. ‘Really?’ 

Mr Potter sighed. ‘Well if we want to do it we need the Scorkward Squad.’ 

‘Is that what they’re calling us?’ Scorpius asked torn between horror and amusement. ‘God Al will never let me live that down.’ 

‘Yes he told me you were staying at his,’ Mr Potter said. ‘Try not to let him drag you into one of his adventures. I don’t think the country could afford it.’ 

‘Hah,’ Scorpius snorted. 

Mr Potter had a rueful look in his eye. ‘I didn’t think we’d be here either,’ he said. ‘God Scorpius I remember catching you and Al smoking pot on the roof.’ 

‘Keep your voice down,’ Scorpius said with a laugh. ‘I have a reputation to maintain.’ 

‘Do you think you could float Smith as Prime Minister to your lot?’ Mr Potter asked tentatively. 

‘I think Nott might prefer sticking his head in the oven,’ Scorpius said definitively. 

‘It’ll have to be Parvati Patil then,’ Mr Potter said. ‘The Lib Dems are always good compromise candidates.’ 

‘I’ll float it,’ Scorpius said. ‘But everyone’s still in shock. Most of us basically inherited our seats. We’ve been Tories a long time.’ 

‘Well I trust you’ll do your best,’ Mr Potter said, rubbing the bridge of his nose where his glasses were perched precariously. 

‘Do you think we’ll get out soon?’ Scorpius asked. ‘We were due at the Burrow an hour ago.’ 

‘You can come in the car with Hermione and I,’ Mr Potter said decisively. ‘And yes I think we should. I’ve had enough of blowhards for the night.’ 

‘But back to work tomorrow?’ Scorpius asked. 

‘Back to work tomorrow,' Mr Potter agreed.

‘At least we’ve agreed on the courts,’ Scorpius said. 

‘Yes, everyone was very good at enumerating Goyle’s transgressions,’ Mr Potter said dryly. 

‘I can’t believe he’s the same guy who used to follow dad around and agree with everything he said,’ Scorpius said. ‘He’s gone crazy.’ 

‘I think that crazy might’ve always been there,’ Mr Potter said. ‘He was on the school on the hill and he was always a bit weird.’ 

‘Oh yeah,’ Scorpius said. ‘Dad told me you used to call them the nobs on the hill.’ 

‘Trust me they called us plenty of names too,’ Mr Potter said. ‘Especially Hermione.’ 

Scorpius’ phoned beeped and he saw an expletive filled text message from Damon. 

‘Shit I have to head back. I’ll see you in a half hour or so.’

Scorpius made his way back to his seat and thankfully the meeting did indeed last only another half an hour.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Damon said as he began collecting his things. ‘Our last day in parliament.’ 

‘We might win the court case,’ Scorpius said half-heartedly. 

‘Hah,’ Damon snorted. ‘Okay.’ 

‘So glad you’re joining us.’ Hermione Granger’s tone was warm and Scorpius found himself, rather surprisingly, enveloped in a hug. 

She was an odd figure in his life. She represented everything his father hated so until the age of eleven he too had dutifully hated her. She had seemed larger than life. Terrifyingly clever and almost majestic in her quiet exercise of power. She was the reason they had had to sell the house in Brighton and whenever she came on television his father used to swear. Then he had met Al and Rose and the rest was history. It was difficult to reconcile the ogre of his early childhood with the woman who chided Rose about her dental hygiene. It also helped that they had liked each other. Scorpius had been a serious child and Ms Granger had understood that. She never talked down to him and answered every question he had ever asked about politics. He knew that she had been disappointed when he had taken his father’s seat and his place in the Tory Party. But Ms Granger hadn’t been there when his mother, her tearstained face haunting, had begged him not to let the family down. So he took the seat and was swept into power in the wave that had blown Labour and the Lib Dems away and delivered the Tory Party an absolute majority. 

‘Molly will understand,’ Mrs Granger said. ‘Really I wouldn’t worry Harry.’ 

‘I’m not worried about that,’ Mr Potter said. ‘I’m worried about the constitutional crisis we’re barrelling towards.’ 

Ms Granger made a dismissive noise. ‘We’ll win the court case,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t have a leg to stand on.’ 

They climbed into a discreet car and were soon speeding towards the Burrow.

‘That doesn’t even solve the problem,’ he said. ‘Who would stand if we get rid of Smith?’ 

Scorpius had to stop his jaw from falling to the floor. The ease with which Mr Potter talked about interfering in Labour politics was stunning. He was suddenly aware that he was sitting with two people who had once been the most powerful people in the country. 

‘We can’t just get rid of Smith, Harry,’ Ms Granger said, her voice soft but confident. ‘And we shouldn’t think about this yet. We’re going to pass the legislation to stop a no deal tomorrow and take every other day as it comes.’ 

Mr Potter sighed, but obligingly changed the subject. They were soon chatting about Lily’s PhD, which she was doing at the London School oF Economics. 

‘I never thought you and Gin would be the ones to get a child who’d do a PhD,’ Ms Granger said with a laugh. ‘I always thought it would be me.’ 

‘She’s ten times smarter than her mum and I,’ Mr Potter said ruefully. ‘Even when she was in school. She could talk rings around us.’ 

Scorpius watched the countryside rush by, oddly soothed by the voices he had heard so many times in his childhood. 

When they got to the Burrow, he felt a lump in his throat. Even though it had been a taxing day he couldn’t help but think about Rose Weasley an awful lot. It hadn’t helped that she and her mother were so similar looking either. While Rose had the standard Weasley ginger hair and pale freckly skin, her bones were all Hermione Granger. They had the same bone structure, the same way of raising their eyebrows a little when quite horrified, the same perfect orthodontically aided smile. Yes Scorpius remembered the orthodontics with Rose at least, in great detail. 

‘We’re here,’ Ms Granger said as the car came to a halt. 

‘It’s been a long day,’ Mr Potter said. ‘Just have a drink, kiss Molly and you can head home.’ 

Scorpius nodded and got out of the car. 

‘You came!’ Molly Weasley greeted them at the door her arms held wide. 

Mr Potter and Ms Granger hugged her and handed her their presents. 

‘I didn’t think you would you know. We’ve had BBC on since this afternoon.’ 

‘Well we don’t know any more than anyone else,’ Mr Potter said. ‘We might know less.’ 

‘Oh you two,’ Mrs Weasley clucked as they laughed and walked into the house. 

‘Happy birthday Mrs Weasley,’ Scorpius said, leaning over to hug the small woman. He kissed her cheek and handed her a package. 

‘Thank you dear,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you’re here. Al’s had a bit too much and him and Rose are getting on each other’s nerves a little.’ 

‘Oh,’ Scorpius said, his heart sinking. He was almost entirely certain that he knew exactly why they were getting on each other’s nerves.

He heard their voices before they came into view. He walked into the sitting room where the remains of a Taboo game was spread out over the floor. The fire was crackling merrily and most of the family were sprawled across various pieces of furniture. Lily gave him a wave and rolled her eyes as she gestured him towards a bickering Al and Rose. 

‘You are the worst teammate.’ Rose was berating Al as he glared at her. ‘It’s Taboo. You have to stop swearing so much.’ 

‘It’s your bleeding-fucking-fault,’ Al snarled. ‘If you got anything I wouldn’t have to swear.’ 

‘Oh children,’ Scorpius said mildly. ‘Have we finally learnt that playing Taboo is never a good idea?’ 

‘Shut up,’ Al snapped, and Scorpius could tell that he was already three sheets to the wind. 

‘At your Nan’s birthday Al?’ he chided. 

Al just snorted. ‘You’re one to talk.’ 

‘Lets maybe not bring up inappropriate things while most of your family is listening in,’ Scorpius said in an undertone. Al scowled at him and fell into a sullen silence. 

‘How was your day?’ Rose asked, peeping at him innocently from under her lashes. He swallowed nervously. Despite the fact that he had spent most of the day grappling with extremely complicated constitutional law he had managed to find an inordinate amount of time to think about the way she had moaned when she was under him. 

‘It was long,’ he said evasively. He wasn’t entirely certain what he was allowed to disclose. But he supposed that Rose, who was the brilliant daughter of an extremely powerful and equally brilliant woman, knew most of what was happening even before he did. 

‘Can I get you a drink then?’ she asked. Her mouth had curved up into an utterly enchanting smile and for a brief moment he forgot to respond. 

‘Uhm, yes please,’ he said. ‘That would be good.’ 

‘Gin and tonic work?’ Rose asked. ‘I make a good gin and tonic.’ 

‘I know,’ Scorpius said unthinkingly and was rewarded with another smile. ‘Yeah that sounds perfect.’ 

He watched her as she walked away, the movement of her hips intoxicating. 

‘You pillock,’ came Al’s disgusted voice from behind him. 

‘What?’ Scorpius said defensively. 

‘I told you not to get involved with Rose,’ he said. ‘But I can see that’s a lost battle. You can just get at the back of the line of the hundreds of guys who are slavering over my cousin.’ 

‘I’m not slavering,’ Scorpius said, stung by his friend’s tone. 

‘God I shouldn’t have drunk this much,’ Al muttered as he ran a hand through his messy hair. ‘I just don’t know how to say no.’ 

‘It’s fine,’ Scorpius said automatically. He had spent years assuring Al that his excesses weren’t a problem and it had almost become a habit.  
‘Fuck it’s just that it’s weird for me right?’ Al said. ‘Because Rose and you…well…you know what I mean. We’ve shared beds, the three of us.’ 

‘When we were twelve. It doesn’t count,’ Scorpius said with a laugh. 

‘I know that,’ Al said, reddening. 

‘Just be nice to her,’ Scorpius said, knocking his best friend in the arm. 

Rose walked back in, drink in hand, and Scorpius took it gratefully. ‘You lifesaver,’ he said, and took a large gulp. The alcohol burned the back of his throat in a pleasant way and he instantly felt a little less stressed out. 

‘I read your Mum’s article this morning,’ Scorpius said to Al. ‘She’s painfully funny you know.’ 

Ginny Weasley, after a very successful tennis career had become a journalist for The Guardian. Armed with a decorated sports career and a Masters in Political Science she had been given a wide brief. Her articles were always hilarious and Scorpius was especially fond of her acerbic observations on the English Premier League. 

‘Try having all that wit turned against you at the dinner table,’ Al said, but there was no heat in his tone. He was genuinely very fond of his mother. 

‘Speaking of mums,’ Scorpius said. ‘Yours was pretty magnificent today. She’s scary sometimes you know.’ 

‘I do,’ Rose said. ‘I should probably go say hello to her and Uncle Harry. Dad and Aunt Ginny grabbed them and dragged them away before anyone could even say hi.’ 

‘It’s a clusterfuck,’ Scorpius said. ‘No one knows what’s going to happen. Except your mum, who seems certain the courts will strike down the prorogation.’ 

‘Alright,’ Rose said. But before she could get up to find her mother, a couple walked through the door. She felt her face heating and she snuck a look at Scorpius who had a blank expression on his face.

James and Freya were undoubtedly an objectively beautiful couple, Scorpius thought vaguely. Inheriting his mother’s brown eyes and athletic prowess and his father’s messy black hair and affability that hid a core of steel, James was an attractive man. The fact that he was one of the few players Manchester City kept on after being taken over by sheiks who splurged billions of pounds on the club, also added to his appeal. Freya Thomas was equally glamorous, with waves of thick dark hair and a smooth, immaculately tanned body. Scorpius, who had spent the better part of a year between her legs could confirm that she was indeed tanned everywhere. 

‘James, darling!’ James was pulled into his Nan’s embrace. Mrs Weasley awkwardly hugged Freya who, gave her a peck on the cheek. 

‘I thought this was supposed to be just family and friends,’ Scorpius said softly, as the couple went around greeting everyone.

Al just shrugged and turned his annoyed glare towards his brother and his girlfriend. 

‘I don’t know what he’s thinking bringing her here,’ he said waspishly. ‘She’s the reason you and Rose were ‘hiding’ yesterday.’ 

He put the word 'hiding' in air quotes and Rose suppressed the urge to whack him on the side of the head. 

‘Can I hide today?’ Scorpius asked, only half-joking. 

‘Just drink,’ Al ordered his best friend and Scorpius complied. 

By the time James and Freya rotated around to them Scorpius had begun feeling like he was watching a car crash in slow motion. 

‘Hello children,’ James said pleasantly, having been greeted by three very wooden faces. 

‘Hey James,’ Scorpius said, breaking first, as ever. Rose let out a huff of annoyance but she didn’t say anything. 

‘Can’t believe what’s happening,’ James said, his fingers flexing unconsciously in his girlfriend’s grip. ‘You’ve got footballers watching BBC mate.’ 

‘Yeah,’ Scorpius said, resigning himself to the fact that this was all anyone would talk about for a while. ‘It’s pretty mad.’ 

‘What’s she doing here?’ The question had burst from Rose’s lips before she could stop herself. She had just watched the animation bleed out of Scorpius’ face as he made painful smalltalk with the man who was now dating his ex-girlfriend. It was a little bit more than she could handle and she genuinely wanted to know what had been running through James’ mind. 

‘It’s family and friends Rosie,’ James said, the sharpness in his eyes belying his lazy tone. ‘And Freya’s going to be family.’ 

Scorpius’ eyes dropped to Freya’s hand where there indeed was a shiny engagement ring which he could swear was glinting at him mockingly. 

‘You wanker,’ Al said, finally overcoming his shock. ‘You utter wanker.’ 

‘That doesn’t really sound like a congratulations Al,’ James’ tone was even but there was a hard look in his eyes. 

Al just continued to stare at his brother, his brow furrowed as though he couldn’t quite believe that he had done what he had done. 

‘Congratulations,’ Scorpius said stiffly. ‘I hope it works out.’ 

‘Thank you Scor,’ Freya said, a tinge of worry in her eyes. 

‘Well I think I’m going to head home now,’ he said, the stress of the day finally catching up to him. He felt utterly exhausted as he forced himself to stand and kiss Mrs Weasley goodbye. 

As he left the room he heard an explosion of noise from behind him as Rose and Albus launched an impressively explicit tirade. Scorpius hid a smile. Mrs Weasley wouldn’t have that. She’d rake them over the coals for it later. Or maybe she wouldbe a little shocked by what James had done too and cut them some slack. 

‘You wanker,’ Al repeated furiously. ‘On today. Of all days.’ 

‘You knew he’d be here James,’ Rose said accusatorially. Both she and Al were studiously ignoring Freya and directing their ire towards James. Though Rose felt that was a little unfair. After all, surely Freya knew Scorpius was going to be here too. 

‘So I’m supposed to not get engaged because Scorpius Malfoy has had a tough day?’ James asked mildly. ‘I’m sorry. I thought for some strange reason that my family might be happy because I’m getting married.’ 

‘Mum’ll have a cow,’ Al muttered, as Rose continued to glare at her cousin. 

‘Well Mum doesn’t have to marry Freya,’ James said calmly. ‘I do.’ 

‘Didn’t even make it a month before you went and got engaged did you?’ Al asked, turning his fire onto Freya. ‘You two deserve each other.’

‘I think that’s the closest you’ll get to a congratulations here James,’ Rose remarked. 

Without showing a hint of emotion apart from a slight tightening around his shoulders, James put his arm around his fiancee and steered her away. 

‘Fuck,’ Al swore softly. ‘She’s going to be my sister-in-law.’ 

‘She’s going to be at every single family dinner,’ Rose said bleakly. 

They looked at each other and immediately rushed out of the room. Fuck, what a shitty day it had been for him, Albus thought sympathetically. Rose kept pace with him as they briskly walked to stop Scorpius before he got his cab. 

‘Don’t book the Uber yet mate,’ Al panted as they caught up to him. 

‘Look it really has been a long day.’ Scorpius ran a hand through his white blond hair and Rose felt an entirely inappropriate pang of desire in her stomach. 

‘That was insane,’ Rose said, the first to wrap her head around what had just happened. ‘They’ve barely been together a month. They aren’t getting married.’ 

‘That depends on what you mean by together.’ Scorpius had the grace to look a little ashamed at least. 

‘What do you mean?’ Rose asked slowly. ‘She’s been with you for four years.’ 

‘She’s been with us,’ Scorpius corrected, cringing a little. 

‘So you knew she was messing around then?’ Al asked astonished. 

‘For the most part,’ Scorpius said dully. 

‘And you just stayed with her?” Rose asked, her tone a mixture of compassion and annoyance. ‘Oh Scor.’ 

‘Yes, I did,’ he said, trying to appear nonchalant. ‘And I guess she’s made her choice.’ 

‘What did you tell me yesterday?’ Rose said, a hint of a smile on her lips. ‘I could be married to that tosser Scamander but that’s still better than heading down the aisle with Freya Thomas. Trust me, James did you a favour.’ 

‘Hey mine is a little raw-er than yours,’ Scorpius complained half-heartedly, secretly longing to bury himself in her embrace. ‘You can’t use my words against me.’ 

‘She’s right mate,’ Al said with a wry smile. ‘I think you’re well out of it.’ 

‘Now all you have to do is fix the country yeah?’ Rose said mischievously. 

‘Yeah should be nothing now,’ he quipped back. ‘You two should get back now. You’ll miss the cake cutting.’ 

‘See you at home yeah?’ Al said. 

Scorpius nodded in assent and watched as they left him to go back to a family he had often thought of as his own. 

As his Uber drove up he could hear the strains of Happy Birthday emanating from the house and he felt a pang in his chest that he was missing it. But the day had been too long and it was too much to see both Rose and Freya in the same room. Granted they were probably studiously avoiding each other but Scorpius still didn’t think he had the wherewithal to deal with it. 

Al and Rose caught each other’s eye as the chorus died down. Grandad had smeared a bit of icing on Nan’s face and she was giggling happily as she wiped it off. 

‘So this is happening,’ Rose muttered, when the crowds had dispersed. 

They both looked over at Freya and James who were now awkwardly interacting with Aunt Fleur. 

‘He looked shattered,’ Al said, not taking his eyes off them. ‘Now will you stay away from him? You can see he has enough to deal with.’ 

‘What did I do?’ Rose asked innocently. 

‘Oh Scorpius can I get you a drink.’ Al mimicked her with unerring precision. 

‘We’re friends,’ Rose said, letting out an exaggerated breath. ‘Don’t be an arsehole.’ 

‘Yeah I’m sorry about that,’ Al said, apologising suddenly and thoroughly surprising Rose. 

‘Er, it’s okay I guess,’ she said, unsure of how to respond. ‘You weren’t wrong.’ 

‘I mean about the alienation of family friends thing,’ Al said, fiddling with the stem of his wineglass. ‘That was not your fault. Lysander’s a wanker.’ 

‘Oh yeah, uh, that’s fine too,’ Rose said. ‘I knew you were just annoyed.’ 

Al laughed bleakly. ‘Look at the two of us,’ he said, his tone regretful. ‘Remember how thrilled Mum and Aunt Hermione were when we got into Cambridge?’ 

‘Yeah,’ Rose said. ‘Mum actually made it to dinner that time. And she let me have four glasses of champagne.’ 

‘You were meant to be a CEO,’ Al said. ‘Or a journalist, or a teacher. I never would’ve pegged you for a model.’ 

‘An actress?’ Rose asked lightly. 

‘Christ,’ Al said tiredly. 

‘Relax,’ Rose said. ‘I’m not going to do it. Though it is a lot of money.’ 

‘How is it that the only thing you inherited from your father is his abject fear of poverty?’ Al asked acidly. 

Rose just shrugged, immune to his barbs. 'And his red hair.' 

‘He’ll be alright won’t he?’ Al asked, his green eyes filled with worry. 

‘Scorpius? Of course,’ Rose said, with confidence she did not feel. ‘He was always the one making sure we never went too far. He’ll be fine.’ 

‘Because the last time one of us had a romantic crisis it went quite badly,’ Al said pointedly. 

‘Al, Scorpius is not me,’ Rose said. ‘And I’ve decided to stop spiralling.’ 

‘Is that a unilateral decision you can take?’ Al asked with a frown. 

‘I think it has to be,’ Rose said wearily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope you like this story. I'll admit I've been following the constitutional crisis in the UK with great interest and a lot of what I've written is taken from real life. I'm sorry if this is a little politics heavy at the moment. But hopefully that's been off-set by all the drama.


	4. Prorogued

As Scorpius fiddled with his tie, he briefly wondered if this was the last time he was going to walk through these doors. 

‘Ready?’ Damon asked and Scorpius nodded. 

They walked into parliament and took their places at the Conservative benches. 

‘Glad to see you haven’t fled to the Lib Dems,’ the rather harsh voice of the woman Scorpius had sat next to rattled him. He had almost forgotten that he was seated next to Pansy Parkinson now. 

‘Don’t think I could do it just yet,’ he said, trying to make himself comfortable. 

‘Your father would be rolling in his grave,’ Ms Parkinson said, disgustedly. 

‘Because of me or him?’ He asked, gesturing towards the slouching figure of the Prime Minister. 

‘Because of all of us.’ Her pug nose sniffed at him disdainfully. 

‘I can’t believe they gave you this seat,’ he said. ‘They must know what it looks like.’ 

‘I’m a faithful member of the Tory Party,’ Ms Parkinson said. ‘If everything I’ve done until now hasn’t proved that…’ 

That was true. Pansy Parkinson had taken over the position of Prime Minister without even a proper leadership election. After a brutal Brexit referendum campaign, her rivals had all destroyed each other and she was virtually the only person left standing. Then, confident, because the polls showed that Zacharias Smith’s approval ratings were underwater, and determined to distract from the actual matter of Brexit, she had called a general election. Unfortunately Smith turned out to be a decent campaigner and she lost the majority that had swept the Tories into power two years earlier. But she had stayed in her position and tried to negotiate a tortuous Brexit. But it was virtually impossible, with a fractious parliament and Goyle’s goons who insisted on throwing political bombs whenever they could. So she resigned and Goyle won the leadership election. As only the second female Prime Minister, she was invariably compared to Hermione Granger rather lot. And usually, she was found to be lacking.

As the Speaker, Kingsley Shacklebolt, took his position, Scorpius held his breath. It was going to be a long night. 

It really was. When the Prime Minister finally called for a vote on a general election, Scorpius just felt relief that this was finally going to be over. As the Prime Minister subsequently lost the vote, Scorpius left with the knowledge that he at had at least stopped something potentially terrible from happening tonight. 

As he walked out, out of the corner of his eye, he caught Gregory Goyle staring at him venomously. Suppressing a shudder he turned to Damon. 

‘Want to get something to eat?’ he asked. 

‘Mate, I don’t think I could sit up. I’m exhausted. I’ll just head home.’ 

‘This might’ve been our last night ever in parliament. Don’t you want to do something more than just go to sleep?’ Scorpius wheedled. 

‘Not really,’ Damon said. ‘But if you want you could come over and I’ll get a takeaway.’ 

‘A general’s coming though isn’t it?’ Damon said gloomily as he bit into a burger they had ordered from Deliveroo. ‘And then where are we going to be?’

Scorpius sipped deeply from his glass of wine. 

‘Let’s not think about that for now,’ he said. ‘We stopped an election tonight didn’t we?’ 

‘Yeah, but for how long?’ Damon asked. ‘What are we going to do? Stand as independents? Run as spoilers so the Tories don’t win? You know that’s crazy right?’ 

‘We could join the Lib Dems,’ Scorpius offered weakly. 

‘Fuck do you want to join the Lib Dems?’ Damon asked. ‘Scorpius, we aren’t even in our thirties yet. You were the Baby of the House. You were supposed to be Prime Minister one day.’ 

‘What?’ Scorpius asked astonished. ‘You thought I’d be Prime Minister?’ 

‘I mean, not now,’ Damon said. ‘But in ten years? Who knows?’ 

‘Jesus,’ Scorpius said softly. ‘Did we do something stupid?’ 

‘Maybe,’ Damon said with a shrug. 

‘Maybe we can do something else,’ Scorpius said. ‘It’s taken up too much of our lives. You know I hadn’t smoked weed in seven years until yesterday.’ 

‘That’s because you’re obsessed with rules,’ Damon laughed. ‘So are you just going to live in Al’s house and smoke his weed for the rest of your life?’ 

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Scorpius said. ‘I’m not doing that again. I get into enough trouble as it is. I just wondered if maybe there’s something else out there that I’m good at.’ 

‘You’re good at this,’ Damon said. ‘No, we have to come up with a plan.’ 

‘There’s nothing we can do right now,’ Scorpius said firmly. 

‘But leaving with Granger and Potter after that meeting,’ Damon said cautiously. ‘Was that a statement?’ 

‘No,’ Scorpius said definitively. ‘And you can tell Nott that. They just wanted me to float something but I’m not certain how it’ll be received. I mean god, do you really think I’d join the Labour Party?’

‘I didn’t think I’d even have the whip stripped from me but here we are now,’ Damon said, gesturing to the sad burgers and chips they were half-heartedly digging into. 

‘There are some things I don’t think I can do,’ Scorpius said, resting a hand on his head. ‘No matter how much I respect Hermione Granger. We just have to see how the situation pans out and then decide what our next move is going to be.’

‘The only comfort is that at this point it really can’t get that much worse can it?’ Damon asked. 

‘Oh trust me,’ Scorpius said, scowling. ‘At some point we’ll be thinking of this time as the good old days.’ 

‘Are you really living in Albus Potter’s house?’ Damon asked curiously. ‘Why? You’re a grown man. You can’t have a flatmate.’ 

Scorpius suddenly felt unaccountably annoyed by Damon. ‘He’s keeping me around to make sure I don’t top myself.’ The words were laced with grim humour and Damon looked a little sheepish. 

‘I should head back,’ Scorpius said. ‘Al will be wondering where I got to.’ 

‘Mate,’ Damon said, contrition in his voice. ‘I’m sorry.’ 

‘It’s fine,’ Scorpius snapped, knowing he was being unreasonable. But everything was a mess and Damon was the only person around so he ended up the unwitting victim of Scorpius’ bad mood. 

‘Scor,’ Damon asked, tentatively, as Scorpius gathered his things. ‘It’ll all work out in the end, won’t it?’ 

‘I hope so,’ Scorpius sighed as he got his phone out to order an Uber. 

Al wasn’t even home when Scorpius got in. He wandered over to Al’s bar and poured himself a whiskey. As he sprawled out on a comfortable chair, the warm room almost lulling him to sleep, he heard swearing and a clatter behind him. 

‘Hey,’ he said, rubbing his eyes. 

‘Saw you on the TV,’ Al mumbled. ‘It was very dramatic.’ 

‘Where have you been?’ Scorpius asked. ‘It’s a Monday.’ 

Al slid on to the couch and shot him a sardonic look. 

‘What did you take,’ Scorpius sighed. 

‘I’ll be fine,’ Al said, making himself comfortable. 

‘Do you want to watch TV?’ Al asked, fiddling with the remote. 

Scorpius nodded in assent and Al put on a bad sitcom. 

‘More record label shopping?’ Scorpius asked Al. 

‘Yeah, fuck,’ Al swore. ‘It’s going to kill me.’ 

‘Well you had better make up your mind soon,’ Scorpius said. ‘I should head back to my constituency now. So I won’t be around-‘ 

‘To make sure I don’t die,’ Al said. ‘Yeah, yeah, I know.’ 

Scorpius let out a laugh. ‘I told someone tonight that I was staying here because you wouldn’t let me die.’ 

‘Maybe you shouldn’t head back just yet,’ Al offered quietly. ‘Y’know, we’ll both make sure the other doesn’t die.’ 

‘I’m at a very interesting place in my life I think,’ Scorpius said meditatively. ‘I, for instance, would never have imagined we’d be at a place where we would be stopping each other from literally dying.’ 

‘Heh, well,’ Al said, almost apologetically. ‘Life’s weird sometimes.’ 

‘I mean when I was five I would never have imagined that I’d being living in a house with Harry Potter’s son and lusting after Hermione Granger’s daughter.’ 

‘Can you not say that?’ Al complained. 

‘What? That I’m living in a house with Harry Potter’s son?’ Scorpius asked, his eyes a little glazed. 

‘You know that’s not what I’m talking about,’ Al snapped. 

‘Oh yeah,’ Scorpius said. ‘Sorry, I’m a little drunk. Had a bottle of wine at Damon’s.’ 

‘I should go visit Mum and Dad sometime,’ Al said, suddenly a little guilty after Scorpius mentioned his father. 

‘You saw them yesterday,’ Scorpius pointed out. 

‘Yeah but I haven’t seen just them for while,’ Al said. ‘We’re usually surrounded by a thousand people.’ 

‘I don’t visit Mum much anymore either,’ Scorpius confessed. ‘It’s too depressing.’ 

Astoria Malfoy had voted for Brexit and was an ardent supporter of Gregory Goyle.

‘I guess I’m lucky,’ Al said. ‘Mum and Dad mostly agree on politics and I don’t actually care that much.’ 

‘You don’t care?’ Scorpius asked, disbelievingly. 

‘I mean I care because most of my family’s involved. And I care because you’re involved. But I really don’t think I understand enough to properly care,’ Al explained. 

‘You and most of the country,’ Scorpius said, rubbing his temple. 

‘It was weird for them that James, Lily and I turned out to be so uninterested in politics,’ Al said. ‘I mean Mum and Dad live for it. But I guess James and I are too unintellectual and Lily’s too busy stuck in the past to care very much about the present. Though I suppose she does care, but she definitely doesn’t shout about it.’ 

‘Hugo and Rose are the same aren’t they?’ Scorpius said. ‘I mean Rose always said she would rather stick pins in her eyes.’ 

‘Yeah it was just too much for all of us I think,’ Al said. ‘I mean remember Rose’s awkward phase? She was all over the papers then. Can you imagine how horrible that was?’ 

Scorpius, who had never actually found Rose ugly, prudently held his tongue. 

‘It was horrible,’ Al said. ‘No wonder we all turned out so fucked up.’ 

‘All of you seem to be doing fine,’ Scorpius said. 

Al looked at him with pity. ‘I don’t think Rose and I are quite on the right path Scor.’ 

‘You two are good at your jobs and aren’t homeless,’ ‘Scorpius said. ‘What more do you want.’ 

‘Jesus you had a fucked up childhood,’ Al said with a chuckle. 

‘I thought you were talking about your fucked up childhood,’ Scorpius said. ‘And Rose certainly doesn’t mind her picture in the paper anymore.’ He thought a little bitterly about the spread in the Daily Mail a few weeks ago, which showed Rose plastered against a Manchester United footballer. 

‘Yeah well Rose has changed a bit haven’t you noticed, mate?’ Al said. 

Scorpius ran his mind over the memories of Rose he had stored. When he had first met her she had been a precociously smart eleven year old who had made him feel very inferior. It hadn’t helped that she was practically attached at the hip to his new favourite person in the whole world, Albus Potter. The ease at which their friendship grew was a little surprising. Entirely unsurprising, however, were his clashes with Albus Potter’s fiery haired cousin. Scorpius remembered them spitting insults each other, as Albus looked on, bored with a scene that had played out a hundred times. His father, who had been horrified by Scorpius’ fast friendship with Al, was at least a little heartened by his son’s obvious dislike of his old enemy’s daughter. When he turned fifteen, although he would never admit it, Scorpius had begun to enjoy sparring with Rose. If his father had known the thoughts, and god forbid, the dreams he had been having he would’ve been utterly shocked. Rose had been bossy but utterly brilliant. Scorpius knew that a good part of the reason why he and Al had done so well in school was because of Rose’s meticulous notes that she shared only with them. 

It was only at university, when, after being away from people who watched her grow up and feeling marginally more anonymous, Rose realised that she was rather attractive to the opposite sex. She remained entirely committed to her studies, going on to get a First Class degree, but she also started experimenting with drugs, and much to Scorpius’ discomfort, sex. If Scorpius had found it difficult to concentrate around a relatively straight-laced Rose Weasley, he was positively driven to distraction by a Rose Weasley who instantly became more human. He loved to listen to her giggle as they smoked weed and watched old episodes of Rick and Morty. He thought about her an awful lot but he also knew that he wasn’t unattractive and certainly took advantage of that on occasion. He cringed when he remembered how he and Rose used to exchange stories about their sexual conquests over the breakfast table. Rose would usually be wearing a ratty robe and keep the kettle on boil non-stop as she either wickedly skewered or faintly praised the latest boy she had taken to bed. God they had a weird relationship, he thought. 

She had done a law degree and was going to stay on and do a Masters. Then her mother was stripped of her post as Labour Leader and therefore had to resign as Prime Minister. The two of them lived in the same house for three months, after which Rose took the first modelling job she got and moved down to London. She deferred her Masters, finally dropping it, and became a model full-time. All the while the amount of gossip she generated in the tabloids, steadily increased. Scorpius had watched with consternation, but he also felt utterly unable to say anything. He wasn’t even certain what he was to her. A friend maybe? It was also around the time he had been getting serious with Freya and Rose had moved lower on his list of priorities, though certainly not disappearing entirely. 

‘I guess,’ he said, responding to Al after a very long pause. 

‘She’ll be fine,’ Al said, somehow understanding that Scorpius was worried. ‘She’s ten times smarter than us. She always was.’ 

‘I know,’ Scorpius said. ‘I’m worried about you too, y’know.’ 

‘I’m fine,’ Al said, brushing off his concerns. ‘You just worry about yourself for now. Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer? You were supposed to be here for parliament anyway.’ 

‘Fine,’ Scorpius said, not needing too much encouragement. 

‘You can head back after the protest,’ Al said. ‘That’s still an extra two weeks with your constituents.’ 

‘I’m going to get massacred,’ Scorpius groaned. ‘I should just call a bye-election now.’ 

‘Just wait another few weeks,’ Al said. ‘There’s going to be a general. You might as well be MP as long as you can. At least you don’t have to face a recall vote.’ 

‘Christ,’ Scorpius said. ‘Don’t even say that Al.’ But he smiled, and Al started laughing. Soon the two of them were in splits. 

‘Do you want to come and visit Mum and Dad with me?’ Al asked. ‘I’ll go next week. After the protest.’ 

‘Don’t you want to see them alone?’ Scorpius asked, amused and a little touched. 

‘You don’t count anyway,’ Al said dismissively. ‘We’ll go for dinner on Tuesday. At least we’ll eat one meal that isn’t takeaway.’ 

While Scorpius had cooked in his own house, he found he couldn’t be bothered to at Al’s. Al, who seemed to subsist on Deliveroo and Hungry House, entered his kitchen only to get cereal in the morning, was more than willing to split a Chinese or an Indian every night. 

‘I should start cooking,’ Scorpius said. ‘If I’m going to live here that’s the very least I can do.’ 

‘You don’t have to,’ Al said half-heartedly, clearly hoping that Scorpius would insist. 

‘Also can Damon come and watch the game with us this weekend?’ Scorpius asked. ‘I think I was a bit of a dick.’ 

‘Damon Zabini?’ Al groaned. ‘He’s just a bit much Scor.’ 

‘He’s better now,’ Scorpius said, lying through his front teeth. ‘It’ll be fine.’ 

‘Yeah okay,’ Al said, acquiescing reluctantly. 

Scorpius threw back the last of the whiskey in his glass. ‘I should probably go to bed. It’s been a day.’ 

‘Night,’ Al mumbled, clearly half-asleep himself. 

‘Party Conferences are going to be a nightmare,’ Scorpius groaned to Damon as they sat on Al’s couch drinking beer and watching a football game. It had been almost a week since Goyle had closed parliament and the case was still rattling through the courts. 

‘Fuck he’s such a wanker,’ Scorpius swore at the TV as James tackled an Arsenal player on the screen. 

Damon just laughed. 

Al walked in and thumped another four pack on the coffee table. 

‘Lily’s joining us if you don’t mind,’ he said as he sank into a chair. He opened the can and took a long sip. 

Scorpius didn’t. He had always rather liked Al’s little sister, who managed to be as nerdy as she was attractive, which was very. There was something Scorpius enjoyed about being in the presence of someone who was so utterly unashamed of how dorky she was. She looked as much like her mother as Al looked like his father. She had inherited the Weasley red hair that was permanently bound up into an untidy bun and her mother’s brown eyes. The only difference was that she was willowy, unlike her mother who maintained an athletic build, even though it had been many years since she had been a professional athlete.

The three of them sat mostly in silence punctuated by occasional shouts at the TV. When the doorbell rang and Al ushered his sister in Scorpius saw that she was not alone. 

‘Had to bring him along,’ Lily said, gesturing to Lorcan who gave a weak wave. ‘Rose said he was bouncing off the walls.’ 

Now that he had dramatically reduced his intake of drugs and alcohol, Lorcan found himself with more time than he knew what to do with. He didn’t start work for another week and he was going a little bit crazy stuck in his small flat. 

‘Is Rose coming?’ Scorpius said, before he could stop himself. 

Al just rolled his eyes and Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘I don’t think so Scor,’ she said. 

‘Am I very pathetic?’ Scorpius groaned as she sank into the sofa next to him. 

‘Only a little,’ Lily said, patting his arm. ‘Don’t worry, everyone gets bitten by the Rose bug some time or the other.’ 

‘It was second year of uni for me,’ Damon said reminiscently. ‘She gave me two kisses and a brief crotch rub. It was marvellous.’ 

He looked at the horrified faces in the room and laughed. ‘Everyone has a Rose story, mate,’ he said. 

‘And these are our elected representatives.’ Lily’s dry voice cut through the silence. 

‘Shut up man,’ Al said, looking very ready to defend his cousin’s honour. Lorcan who hadn’t said a word until now was also looking rather ready to fight. 

‘Scorpius keep your Tory under control,’ Lily complained, flicking a crisp at Damon. 

‘He doesn’t belong to me,’ Scorpius muttered, glaring at his oldest friend. 

Damon, just continued sipping his beer, looking utterly unapologetic. 

Scorpius knew that Damon was attractive to the opposite sex. He saw how women’s eyes softened when they took in Damon’s curly dark hair and brown eyes that glinted wickedly. He had also spent a great deal of time with him, Rose and Al at uni so he shouldn’t be surprised that at some point Damon and Rose…

But it was just too weird to think about that after the evening they had spent together at her Nan’s birthday party. Scorpius turned his attention back to the screen, trying to distract himself from thoughts of Rose and one of his best friends. 

‘So are you coming for the protest next Saturday then, Lily?’ Scorpius asked, when half-time rolled around. 

‘I have to work,’ she said. ‘I just don’t have the time.’ 

‘Oh come on, you finished your first year project in May. You can relax for a bit.’ 

‘Yes and now it’s the start of my second year. I have to work.’ 

‘Democracy is dying,’ Scorpius reminded her. ‘And Al’s coming.’ 

‘Only because Scorpius is forcing me,’ Al grumbled. 

‘It’ll be good for your brand,’ Lily said impishly. ‘Politically involved skinny white boy. You’re catnip to teenage girls.’ 

‘Just come to the protest,’ Al said, ignoring her. ‘You can skip one day in the library.’ 

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘But you know we’re going to know all the young communists there right?’ 

‘Hey some of my best memories are with young communists,’ Al said, deadpan. 

‘Don’t be disgusting Al,’ Lily said, flicking a crisp at him too. ‘That scarred me for life.’ 

‘Melly Sloper,’ Al mouthed to Scorpius when Lily wasn’t looking. 

Scorpius rolled his eyes at him. Al wasn’t exactly the best looking guy. Unlike his older brother who was built like a brick wall, Al had given up rugby in year eleven and was so skinny it was possible to see his collarbones from a mile away. But for some reason he had never had a single problem attracting girls. It might have something to do with his manic energy and tortured artist aura. Al was good at what he did too, which added to his appeal. The Potter family really had been extraordinarily blessed, Scorpius mused. All the three children were doing exactly what they wanted to be doing and were all very successful. 

‘We can go to the pub after,’ Lily said. ‘I’ll bring Rory and Ethan along.’ 

Rory Wood and Ethan Finnegan were Lily’s flatmates. When Lily had first found them they had been living in a sad boy flat with mattresses on the floor. Now, they all had bed frames and she made sure they ate vegetables at least twice a week. 

‘Yes please bring your neanderthals along,’ Al said acidly. 

Lily frowned at him. ‘You’ve been in a bad mood for a week. That’s enough Al.’ 

Rory and Ethan weren’t precisely neanderthals but Scorpius could see where he was coming from.

‘No it’s cute,’ Al said. ‘Nan keeps asking if you’re dating one of them.’ 

‘What did you say?’ Lily asked, amused. 

‘I said you couldn’t pick one,’ Al said. ‘Keeping your options open y’know.’ 

‘You’re a terrible boy,’ Lily said with a laugh. ‘The things I could tell Nan if I wanted to.’ 

‘You would never,’ Al said. ‘You have too much shame.’ 

Scorpius tuned out their bickering and instead began running through the vast list of problems facing him. For some reason Rose Weasley kept appearing to distract him. 

The object of his fantasies was currently drinking a very uncomfortable cup of tea with her mother. She had made a few decisions over the last week and was mulling over whether or not to tell her parents. 

‘It’s been a strange week,’ her mum said as she added a quarter teaspoon of sugar to her cup. 

‘I’ll say,’ Rose mumbled. 

‘I’m glad you made the time to see me,’ her mum said. 

‘Yeah well, it’s a part of a twelve step programme,’ Rose said dryly. 

Her mother’s mouth quirked up into a smile. ‘Your brother’s doing well,’ she said. ‘He got a girlfriend now you know.’ 

‘Is she American?’ Rose asked. 

‘Yes she’s from Tennessee and looks a little like Taylor Swift,’ her mum said. 

‘You know who Taylor Swift is?’ Rose asked her mother, amused. 

‘She’s a crossover hit,’ her mum said defensively. ‘Anyway Hugo’s girlfriend is from Tennessee and she has bangs. She’s cute. We Skyped.’ 

‘I want to Skype with Hugo’s cute girlfriend,’ Rose complained. 

‘We’ll conference you in the next time,’ her mum said, with a grin. 

‘You had better,’ Rose said. 

Her mother’s expression changed from amused to a little concerned. 

‘We haven’t talked since the wedding,’ she said quietly. 

‘I know,’ Rose said. ‘But I’m trying to stop spiralling.’ 

‘I was worried for a second there,’ her mother admitted. ‘And I’ve never really been worried about you.’ 

‘I had Lorcan and Lily,’ Rose said. ‘And on occasion Al. It was just hard.’ 

‘I know. I should’ve pushed harder. But Lily said she would tell me if anything went really badly. And I didn’t want to fight.’ 

‘That’s fair,’ Rose said, as she sipped her tea. ‘I would’ve definitely fought.’ 

‘I couldn’t help but notice you and Al glaring at James’ poor fiancee for most of the evening of your Nan’s birthday,’ she said. 

Rose suppressed a grimace. Her mother was on a fact finding mission. 

‘She dated Scor,’ Rose said. ‘It was just weird that James did that. Before Freya he always got on with Scor.’ 

‘Love can do strange things to people. I met your father when I was eleven. You should’ve seen us by the age of sixteen. Poor Uncle Harry had a rough couple of years dealing with us there. ‘ Rose’s mother patted her hand. ‘We did many stupid things to get each other’s attention.’ 

‘Yuck,’ Rose said. ‘I don’t want to think about that at all Mum.’ 

‘All that I’m saying is give the girl a chance,’ she said. ‘Potters are notoriously faithful. Uncle Harry married the first girl he ever dated. And his father was obsessed with one girl all his life, when she gave in he never looked at another woman.’ 

‘You make Grandad James sound like a serial killer,’ Rose laughed. ‘And Al and James have not been paragons of faithfulness.’ 

‘Yes but James seems to have made a decision,’ her mum said. ‘And she’ll be family so we have to get used to her.’ 

‘I hate it when you’re logical,’ Rose informed her mother. 

‘You sound like your father,’ her mum said. 

‘My ears are burning.’ 

Rose’s father walked into the living room and she got up to hug him. 

‘Hi Daddy,’ she said. ‘Sorry it’s been so long.’ 

‘Not to worry darling,’ her father said, his smile easy. ‘Lily kept us up to date.’ 

‘That wasn’t what she was supposed to do,’ Rose complained. 

‘Rose is doing a twelve step program Ron,’ her mother said. 

‘Mu-um,’ Rose whined. ‘That was a joke.’ 

‘Ah the apology tour,’ her father said. ‘I’ve done many in my time.’ 

‘So have I,’ her mum said. ‘It’s the stock and trade of any politician worth her salt.’ 

‘Well the other part was maybe changing the direction of my life,’ Rose said tentatively. ‘I was thinking of applying for a Master’s. I have some money saved up now, so I could pay for it myself. And I could get student finance.’ 

‘That’s great Rosie!’ Her father was the first to speak, while her mother stared at her in shock. He picked her up and gave her a hug. ‘I’ll get the champagne!’ 

He hurried out of the front room and left Rose and her mother alone. 

‘Are you glad?’ Rose asked hesitantly. 

‘Of course darling,’ her mother said, leaning over to give her a hug. ‘It’s just unexpected that’s all.’ 

‘I’ll stick to it this time,’ Rose said. ‘I promise.’ 

‘Of course you will,’ her mother said, an odd quality in her voice. ‘You’re my daughter aren’t you?’ 

Rose and her mother had never discussed the three months they had spent together just after her undergraduate degree. Rose had left, convinced that anything her mother thought was a good idea had to be wrong and had flung herself into a life that was rather hedonistic. It had taken them years to start talking to each other again and even longer before they were once again relatively comfortable around one another. 

‘I’m very glad Rose,’ her mum said, starting slowly. ‘I was beginning to think that ship had sailed.’ 

‘I told you,’ Rose said. ‘Trying to stop the spiral. I don’t think the way I live right now would help that. But I do need something to do.’ 

‘So next autumn then?’ her mother asked, traces of a smile appearing around her mouth. 

‘I guess so,’ Rose said. ‘If everything goes to plan.’ 

Her father walked in, three glasses and a bottle in hand. 

‘I haven’t done anything yet,’ Rose laughed as he poured it out. 

‘Well it’s the first time I’ve seen you in a while,’ her father grinned. ‘So I’ll cheers to that.’ 

‘Cheers Rosie,’ her mum said, a smile in her eyes. ‘I’m glad you’ve decided to stop spiralling.’ 

As the glasses clinked, Rose felt a surprising amount of peace. She was home.


	5. High School Romance

‘Has it ever been this hot in September?’ Al asked, as he shaded his eyes. It was the morning of the protest, and Scorpius, who was due to speak had reached very early, dragging Al along with him. 

The two were wearing shorts and a t-shirt. While it was far too hot to wear anything else, Scorpius certainly felt a little uncomfortable about the fact that he was probably going to appear on television with his pale white legs showing. 

‘You’ll be fine,’ Al said. ‘I heard you practicing it in the bath. Sounded good. Very convincing.’ 

‘Thanks I think,’ Scorpius said. 

As the streets began to fill up Scorpius spotted Lily who had two men in tow. Rory Wood and Ethan Finnegan were two very harmless looking boys, both with young faces and pleasant smiles. Best friends since childhood they had happily let Lily adopt them and followed her around like puppies. 

‘Hello hello,’ Lily said, hugging her brother and kissing his cheek. 

‘Hey Lily,’ Al said, giving her a brief smile. 

‘Hi Scor,’ Lily said, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. 

She looked utterly adorable today. The heat had forced her to ditch the cardigan and she was wearing a sleeveless black tank top and a small pair of jean shorts. She had tied her long red hair up in a high ponytail that she had placed under a baseball cap. 

‘You look nice,’ he said, as he kissed her back. ‘I definitely don’t miss the cardigan.’ 

‘Didn’t have a choice. Thirty degrees in September? Global warming is going to kill us.’ Tendrils of her hair slipped out of her cap as she shook her head. 

Scorpius and Al greeted her friends and they were all soon involved in an animated discussion about the chances of Liverpool stopping Manchester City taking the title for a fourth time in a row. 

‘If you insist on talking about football I’m leaving,’ a laughing voice came from behind Scorpius. He instantly recognised it and could feel the back of his neck burning. 

He turned around slowly, finding it almost surreal that the girl he had thought about for two weeks was finally in front of him. She looked breathtaking in a black t-shirt dress that ended at her thighs. He forced himself to smile and hug her and watched as she greeted everyone, all the while trying not to look at her arse. He was so distracted by her it took him a moment to realise that she wasn’t alone. Lorcan Scamander had also tagged along. Scorpius looked at him critically, noticing that he didn’t look quite as haggard as he had the last week. No, the shadows under his eyes had almost disappeared and he looked as though he had lost a few pounds. Scorpius suddenly felt an odd stab of jealousy. It wasn’t fair that Scamander got to hang out with Rose whenever he wanted to while he had to hope for ten minutes at large Potter-Weasley family gatherings. 

He would’ve been heartened to know that he was having a similar effect on her. Scorpius Malfoy in a cotton t-shirt and shorts was something pretty impressive to behold and she couldn’t help but feel a little excited at the sight of all that skin. 

‘You always ruin my fun Rose,’ Al griped, but there was no heat behind his words and Scorpius could tell that the two of them had come to a truce. 

‘What do you want to talk about instead?’ Scorpius asked. 

‘Have you finally picked a record label Al?’ Rose asked. 

‘If you had read the news you would know that I have,’ Al said. 

‘Sorry,’ Rose said, holding her hands up. ‘There’s too much news.’ 

‘At least he’s mostly stopped coming in absolutely trashed,’ Scorpius said. ‘Now it’s only a few times a week.’ 

‘Shut up,’ Al said good-naturedly. 

‘Mum and Dad are coming too,’ Rose said. ‘I think Uncle Harry is too. Aunt Ginny’s stuck in the BBC studio.’

‘It’s a family reunion,’ Lily said dryly. ‘Great.’ 

‘I saw my parents last weekend,’ Rose said. ‘Mum was over the moon because I told her I might go back to school.’ 

‘Back to school?’ Scorpius asked surprised. ‘Seriously.’ 

‘Possibly,’ Rose said with a shrug. 

‘That’s great,’ he said, grinning at her suddenly. 

The full force of a Scorpius Malfoy smile was almost more than Rose could bear. She had spent most of the week tackling painfully confusing Master’s applications and she was feeling frazzled. She was only here because Lorcan had insisted on her leaving the house. But she couldn’t help but feel glad. The air was humming with excitement and Rose was pleased she wasn’t going to miss it. 

The street became more and more crowded and their group was pushed together tightly. Rose’s arm brushed against Scorpius’ and she felt a tingle run up her spine. She watched him as he made his way to the platform to deliver his speech. He looked so handsome, his blonde hair shining in the sunshine, a determined look in his steel grey eyes. When he started speaking Rose exchanged a surprised glance with Albus. She knew he was good at speaking to crowds, she had seen him on BBC parliament many times, but this was something else. He was so confident and his voice carried across the crowd with ease. 

When he rejoined the group she couldn’t help but look at him with a hint of awe in her eyes. 

‘Christ you’re good,’ she said. She was the last one to congratulate him and he smiled tiredly as he threw an arm around her. 

‘Thanks,’ he said. Now that his speech was over, most of the tension had left his body and he felt almost light-headed. It was the only reason he still couldn’t bring himself to remove his arm from around Rose’s shoulders. 

‘I reckon we owe you many beers,’ she said. ‘You know, for trying to save democracy. 

‘I think I might take you up on that offer,’ Scorpius said. 

Soon the whole group found themselves ensconced in a corner of a tiny pub. 

‘My round first,’ Rose said, getting up. ‘What does everyone want?’ 

They gave her their orders and Rose walked up to the bar. After losing an internal battle, Scorpius got up and went to join her. 

‘You don’t have to help Scor,’ she said, but she still smiled at him. 

‘You only have two hands,’ he said. ‘Thought I might speed things up a little.’ 

‘But I’m paying,’ Rose said firmly. ‘I wasn’t kidding. I definitely owe you a drink.’ 

‘So bossy,’ Scorpius said with a crooked smile. 

‘And you love it,’ Rose shot back, flicking her hair behind her shoulders. 

‘I don’t disagree there,’ Scorpius murmured. He liked how Rose’s cheeks instantly became a shade redder. 

She turned around to face the bar and Scorpius smiled at the back of her head. As she ordered the drinks, he allowed himself to just engage in a few minutes of unabashed staring. It wasn’t like she was paying any attention to him anyway. The two of them began ferrying drinks to the table and very soon everyone had had a few pints in them and spirits were generally rising. Scorpius, shot a glance at Rose, who was still on her first pint. 

‘Don’t fancy drinking tonight then?’ Scorpius asked when the rest of the table was engaged in a discussion about the dramatic cricket world cup final. 

‘Have to head home and work,’ Rose said ruefully, putting her glass down. ‘Can you imagine me saying that?’ 

‘You used to say it all the time,’ Scorpius said, his voice warm. Rose felt almost transfixed by the tenderness in his grey eyes. ‘You were always responsible.’ 

‘I suppose so,’ Rose said, fighting the urge to reach out for one of his hands. 

‘Want another round anyway?’ he asked. ‘You don’t if you don’t want to obviously. But I could buy. This time.’ 

‘Alright,’ Rose said with a small smile. ‘One more.’ 

They made their way to the bar and Rose suddenly realised she rather had to pee. 

‘I’ll be back in a second,’ she said apologetically as she rushed toward the loo. 

She quickly used the facilities, washed her hands, straightened her dress and left the loo, determined not to miss the opportunity to chat with Scorpius by herself. But as she was barrelling out the door she heard a distinct ‘oof’. 

‘Sorry sorry,’ she cried as she spun around to see her victim. 

‘Where were you rushing off to?’ Scorpius asked with a wry smile. 

‘I wasn’t rushing,’ Rose said defensively. 

‘You knocked me out of the way like a ninepin,’ Scorpius said, rubbing his stomach. 

‘Yes because you’re so delicate and fragile you can’t take a little bump to the side,’ Rose said sceptically. 

‘I am fragile,’ Scorpius said, the smoothness in his voice rushing over. ‘You can kiss and make it better.’ 

‘How much have you had to drink?’ Rose said, torn between mortification and amusement. 

‘Not that much,’ Scorpius said, after thinking for a second. ‘Maybe a little more than you.’ 

They were standing in the tiny doorway that led to the loo, faces barely inches apart. 

‘I don’t think that’s true,’ Rose said, and for a brief second replayed what he had just said in her head. God, the way his eyes had sparkled when he asked her to kiss it better. People who looked like Scorpius shouldn’t be allowed to go around saying such provocative things. 

‘I’m not drunk Rose,’ he murmured as his hand came to rest on her waist. 

‘Did you really mean that then?’ she breathed. He was so close she could smell him. It was taking all of her willpower not to just grab him and kiss him senseless. 

‘Do I want you to kiss me?’ he asked. He moved his head closer to hers so that their noses were almost touching. ‘I can’t believe you’re even asking me that question.’ 

There was a sudden crashing noise that abruptly brought Rose back to her senses. All she really wanted to do was lean in further and allow Scorpius to ravish her. She honesty felt as though she was seconds away from agreeing to sex in a pub bathroom. But then she remembered exactly how fucked up her life was and forced herself to step away from him. But she had to admit that she rather resented whoever it was who broke a glass. 

‘You’re going to kill me Rose Weasley,’ he said, as she moved out of the doorway. 

‘Not if you kill me first Scorpius Malfoy,' she said with a sigh. 

They walked back to bar both intensely aware of each other’s presence. 

‘Just a half pint for me thanks,’ Rose said to the bartender. 

They made their way back to the table where the conversation was in full swing. 

Lily and Lorcan were gesticulating at each other as the rest of them watched, rapt. 

‘You’re ridiculous,’ Lily snapped. 

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at Rose and she just shrugged. 

Lily and Lorcan had a very strange relationship. Rose wasn’t entirely sure how much they liked each other. They just sort of existed in her orbit, occasionally interacting because of her. Rose did know, however, that Lorcan had called Lily quite a few times when she was in the middle of her worse episodes. She also knew that they held each other in a wary sort of respect. 

‘Academics just aren’t as flexible as people who work in the corporate world,’ Lorcan argued. 

‘Ah what are we arguing about now?’ Damon’s laughing voice cut through the noise. ‘And that was a nice speech mate.’ 

‘So you got your lazy arse out of bed to go to the protest did you?’ Scorpius said. 

‘Barely,’ Damon said, with a roll of his eyes. He got Lily to budge up so she was squashed in between him and Lorcan. ‘Looking lovely.’ His eyes raked over her and Rose saw her cousin touch her hair (that had suffered a little from being forced under a cap) a little self-consciously. Rose hid a smile. Even though Lily almost certainly hated Damon she couldn’t quite help but be a little attracted to him. He was smooth in a way that would’ve been slimy if had but anybody but himself. But, because he was undeniably handsome and almost cruelly funny sometimes, it was just attractive. 

Scorpius sat down and watched Rose as she sipped her drink. She was listening to the conversation, a small smile on her face and Scorpius realised, to his surprise that she also looked better than she had the last time he saw her. She looked younger somehow, her perennially furrowed brow smoothened out a little. 

‘It looks good on you,’ he remarked quietly. 

‘What?’ she asked, turning her large blue eyes to him, sending a physical bolt of sensation through his chest. 

‘Purpose,’ he said. ‘It’s nice.’ 

‘And letting go doesn’t look so bad on you either,’ she said, a small smile on her face. 

Scorpius hadn’t so much let go as been forced out but he did have to admit that not worrying about having see Gregory Goyle’s face every day was a bit of a relief. 

For some reason he didn’t fancy drinking much anymore and stuck to the pint he had. He wished he could’ve at least offered to drop Rose home but since she lived with Scamander it would’ve just seemed weird. When she left she gave him a hug and he could’ve sworn she hugged him a little longer than anyone else. It was like a year eleven relationship, he thought wryly. They kissed in other people’s bedrooms and even a hug made him feel a little excited. Seemingly understanding that Scorpius just wanted to go home, Al quickly ushered him out, leaving Lily, Damon, Rory and Ethan to entertain each other. As Scorpius was leaving he saw Damon happily sparring with Lily while the other two watched. 

It was almost time for him to go home, Scorpius thought, as he towelled his hair dry. All he had left to do was go to the Potters for dinner. Despite Al’s denials, he was fairly certain that he had only been invited along in case Al needed a buffer between him and his parents. 

‘Are you ready to go?’ Al asked, knocking impatiently on the door. 

‘Coming,’ he said, hurriedly pulling on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to settle it but eventually gave up. Mr and Mrs Potter had seen him look far worse. 

‘Christ, you take ages,’ Al complained, as began walking to the tube station. ‘And I used to live with Rose every summer so I know how long people can take in the shower.’ 

‘It’s warm,’ Scorpius mumbled. 

‘It was thirty degrees outside just a couple of days ago,’ Al said sceptically. 

‘I’m not arguing with you about this Al,’ Scorpius said firmly. 

They got to the Potter’s spacious apartments in Kensington and Scorpius suddenly felt unaccountably nervous. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Mr and Mrs Potter. They were definitely some of his favourite people in the world. It was just that things had changed somewhat since he was in school with their son and mostly only worried about getting decent marks, girls and alcohol. 

Al rang the doorbell and Mrs Potter answered. She was surprisingly small, with smiling even features that Scorpius had seen recently in Lily Potter’s face. 

‘Hello boys,’ she said, giving them a wide smile. 

‘Hey Mum,’ Al said, as she swept him into a hug. He kissed her cheek and walked past her. 

‘Hi Scor,’ Mrs Potter said, giving him a tight hug. ‘You’re looking terribly thin darling. You had better let us feed you up.’ 

Mrs Potter could be remarkably like her mother at times. 

Scorpius walked into the house, smiling as he saw the trophies won by Mrs Potter dotted around. There were pictures of their three children everywhere and even Scorpius made the occasional appearance. He smiled at a picture of a gangly Albus, grinning broadly, next to a tiny Lily and an aloof looking James. James was the only person who looked almost the same in all the pictures. Despite the normal changes wrought in a face from birth to adulthood, James maintained the same, calm clear-eyed, look. His form had undoubtedly changed, from scrawny adolescent to well-built adult, but his expression remained constant. 

Al and his father were already sitting around the table. 

‘Sorry,’ Scorpius said. ‘Were you waiting for us?’ 

‘Not at all,’ Mr Potter said. ‘We just started on some wine.’ 

He poured some into a glass for Scorpius, who accepted it gratefully. 

‘This looks amazing Mrs Potter,’ Scorpius said to Al’s Mum as she wandered in. 

‘Thanks Scor,’ Mrs Potter said. 

The food was really good. Scorpius felt very grateful to be eating something that wasn’t coated in eight layers of oil. 

The conversation carefully skirted politics and Scorpius was soon laughing uproariously as Mrs Potter delivered her opinions on the Premier League. She was being especially cruel about Manchester United and Scorpius could feel Al cringe. Mostly because his brother had supported Chelsea, Al had decided to support United. It had led to many furious arguments through their childhood. For a few years there Al had some crowing rights, even though Chelsea won with annoying regularity. Then they had grown older. James had started playing for the Chelsea youth team and suddenly it became awkward to sling insults at each other over the dinner table. 

‘I remember the Champions League Final in 2008,’ Mrs Potter was reminiscing now. ‘The boys couldn’t watch it in the same room. James had to watch it in ours. He was gutted.’ 

‘He wandered around the house cursing Terry for days,’ Mr Potter said with a laugh. 

‘I think that was one of the best summers of my life,’ Al said. 

Scorpius had been with his parents in France that summer and since he supported Arsenal he rarely thought of the summer of ’08 with a great deal of pleasure. 

‘So Al,’ his father said, starting rather innocently. ‘Have you met anyone recently?’ 

Al groaned loudly. Scorpius suspected this was the exact reason Al had invited to visit his parents with him. 

‘No Dad,’ Al said, with exaggerated patience. ‘I have absolutely not.’ 

‘You know your Mum had you before she was your age,’ Mr Potter said, a grin on his face. ‘I’ll get too old for grandchildren if you wait much longer.’ 

While Scorpius was quite certain that Mr Potter was just trying to wind Al up he was also fairly certain that he was genuinely a little excited about the prospect of grandchildren. Mr Potter was good around children. While Scorpius had listened to Al’s complaints about his parents patiently, he had also secretly thought that Al was being a little bit ridiculous. While Mr Potter had undoubtedly been very busy through most of Al’s childhood, Scorpius still had more fond memories of him than he had of his own father. He had gloriously vivid memories of summer in the Burrow, playing football from dawn till dusk while Mr Potter kept in goal. Mrs Potter, who had also often played with them, had been a wicked footballer. Scorpius supposed pro-athletes were usually brilliant no matter the sport. 

‘Why doesn’t James ever get this?’ Al complained. 

‘Because Mum doesn’t approve of who he’s dating,’ Mr Potter said wryly. 

‘Getting married to now,’ Al sighed. ‘And you thought I was the problem child.’ 

‘I like Freya,’ Mrs Potter said, whacking her husband on the arm. ‘I’m just not sure she’s right for James.’ 

‘Not sure she’s right for anybody,’ Al muttered. 

‘What about you Scor?’ Mrs Potter asked brightly. 

Scorpius felt his face heating a little. Mr and Mrs Potter hadn’t known about Freya and he hoped to god they didn’t know about Rose. The memory of how he had behaved the last time he had been in this house made him cringe. 

‘He wishes,’ Al snorted. 

‘Shut up Al,’ Scorpius said, glaring at his best friend who just popped a roast potato into his mouth without looking at all apologetic. 

‘Al don’t bully Scorpius,’ his mother chided mildly. 

‘Thanks Mrs Potter,’ Scorpius said. He instantly felt as though he had regressed to being around twelve years old. 

‘Mu-um,’ Al whined. Scorpius grinned. Clearly he wasn’t the only one who had become a child again. 

‘I’m really not involved with anyone,’ Scorpius clarified, lying through his front teeth. Despite the fact that the UK could potentially be facing everything from food shortages to lack of medication, all he had been able to think about for almost two weeks was Rose. 

‘You should hope he never does,’ Al said fervently. ‘Scorpius has never in his life picked someone even remotely appropriate.’ 

‘What about that nice girl you dated in your first year of university,’ Mrs Potter asked. ‘She seemed sweet.’ 

Mrs Potter had met Scorpius’ brief university fling for a few minutes when she had come to drop Al’s guitar and drums off. The fling’s name had been Meg and Scorpius only had very hazy, mostly drug filled memories with her. 

‘She tried to make you get a cat with her, remember?’ Al said. ‘I think that’s the one Mum’s talking about.’ 

‘No that was Charlotte,’ Scorpius said with a shake of his head. ‘She’s talking about Meg.’ 

‘Ahh,’ Al said, recognition in his voice. ‘The shoes in the oven girl.’ 

‘Bingo,’ Scorpius said. 

‘God you have dated some weirdos,’ Al said, 

‘Better weird than emotionally manipulative,’ Scorpius said with a shrug. 

‘I’ll cheers to that,’ Mr Potter said with a laugh. He poured more wine into everyone’s glasses and Scorpius took a sip and smiled. Yes that was something he would certainly cheers to.


End file.
